ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an outline of the history of international treaties regarding patents and plant varieties. The Budapest Treaty became effective on August 19, 1980 and its complete title is “Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure”. Until June 1, 1978, applicants filing for foreign patents depended upon the rights granted by the Paris Union Convention, especially article 4 of the Convention which provides for the “right of priority”. The Convention on Biological Diversity was negotiated before the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The disciplines involved in studying biodiversity are evolutionary biology, taxonomy, ecology, genetics, and biochemistry to forces which contribute to the creation of reproductive barriers, leading to the appearance of new varieties and species. The International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property, at its London Congress in 1932, had discussed the need for protection of new plant varieties.
