Explanation:

The SC recently ruled that one can claim patents on GM cotton seeds, in a case related to Monsanto.

This judgment overturned an order of the Delhi High Court which held that genetically modified plants, genetically modified seeds and gene sequences that provide genetic traits to plants are not patentable subject matter in India. Therefore, statement 1 is incorrect.

The decision comes in the ongoing dispute between the Monsanto Group of Companies and the Nuziveedu Group of Companies.

The Intellectual Property Appellate Board, a quasi-judicial body, was constituted in September 1958. The Board is entrusted with the task of adjudication of disputes pertaining to copyright registration, assignment of copyright, grant of Licenses in respect of works withheld from public, unpublished Indian works, production and publication of translations and works for certain specified purposes. It also hears cases in other miscellaneous matters instituted before it under the Copyright Act, 1957. Therefore, statement 2 is incorrect.

Article 3(j) of the India’s patent Act excludes from patentability “plants and animals in whole or in any part thereof other than microorganisms  but including seeds, varieties, and species, and essentially biological processes for production or propagation of plants and animals”. Therefore, statement 3 is correct.