Abstract
Patents are the form of IP most often used to seek protection of knowledge related to biological resources. The value of plants as medicinal sources is more widely recognized and the “intellectual property rights” (IPR) associated with their use and protection have been debated around the world. Indeed, being a land of indigenous cultural heritage and traditional knowledge, India is an open treasure box for whole world. IPR provisions under WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) and patent rights have attracted the appeal of many researchers, pharmaceutical companies and organizations to explore the potential of traditional knowledge. In this scenario, effective protection and management of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is essential, and India is fully committed to this. Similarly IPR and its policy framework equally contribute to development of any nation. This chapter attempts to provide information relevant to national and legal rules and policies regarding Intellectual property rights. Protection of traditional knowledge, Conservation of the rights of local and indigenous peoples to their knowledge and resources are equally important. In this regard, this chapter also discusses the concepts Biopiracy and Bioprospecting. All information is gathered from published articles and legal documents of respective countries and official websites of international organizations as these are the only sources of legal information.
Highlights
Intellectual property rights include patents, trademarks, trade secrets, geographical indications and copyrights
In order to set universal standard of protection and enforcement of IPRs among the WTO (World Trade Organization) member states, an influential international treaty came into existence which was termed as Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
For example India developed a searchable database Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) which is an evidence that treatments already used in indigenous system of medicine and ensure that patents are not granted and prevent the biopiracy followed by a well-known case in which the US Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent after turmeric
Summary
Intellectual property rights include patents, trademarks, trade secrets, geographical indications and copyrights. While we protect these leading compounds and obtain private rights under the existing patent law system, the rights and interests (such as disclosure of origins, profit sharing, etc.) of the traditional knowledge owners who provide the “source” of these patents must be respected Otherwise, it is against the basic principles and concepts of the intellectual property system such as the interest balance [11, 12]. In order to set universal standard of protection and enforcement of IPRs among the WTO (World Trade Organization) member states, an influential international treaty came into existence which was termed as Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). TRIPS is considered to be the most important international agreement on IP, incorporating into it much substantive law from previous international agreements, such as the Berne Convention and Paris Convention [20] These agreements and treaties include the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) treaty. The main contentions in TRIPs include: patentable subject matter (for example genetically engineered products, food, medical and agricultural products, biological processes etc.), duration of protection, limitations on rights, and legal enforcement of rights [21]
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