Bio Piracy of Medicinal Plants & Practices: Sacrilege of Aboriginal Indian Traditional Knowledge

Abstract

India along with other developing countries has been at loggerheads with the U.S. at World Trade Organization for their difference of opinion regarding the amendment in TRIPS agreement to prevent Bio-piracy. These countries have proposed to insert in TRIPS, certain requirements to be filled by all the applicants wishing to obtain a patent. As per the proposal they must disclose of the footage of the indigenous knowledge used. They must also secure prior permission of the concerned authorities & proof of agreement on access to benefit sharing with the country of origin of the ‘prior art’. The United States that profits super-normally by backing the companies acquiring such patents controverts the proposal as unnecessarily saddling and expensive. In the light of the issues arising out of the misuse of patent law, it is crucial to have such appositely coded statutes in every nation to govern such actions in order to shield from the biodiversity-hijackers the knowledge that has been passed on to the current generations from their antecedents. Having multifarious regulations in developing nations will not only build strong legal system for them but also prevent their cultural exploitation to a phenomenal extent.