Criteria for Registration & Variety Types

Novel: if at the date of filing an application for registration for protection, the propagating or harvested material of such variety has not been sold or otherwise disposed of in India earlier than one year or outside India, in the case of trees or vines earlier than six years, or in any other case earlier than four years, before the date of filing such application.

Distinct: A variety is said to be distinct if it is clearly distinguishable by at least one essential characteristic from any other variety whose existence is a matter of common knowledge in any country at the time of filing an application.

Uniform: A variety is said to be uniform, if subject to the variation that may be expected from the particular features of its propagation it is sufficiently uniform in its essential characteristics.

Stable: A variety is said to be stable if its essential characteristics remain unchanged after repeated propagation or, in the case of a particular cycle of propagation, at the end of each such cycle.