Protection of Traditional Knowledge in India by Patent: Legal Aspect

Abstract

Protections of the Traditional Knowledge of the local and indigenous communities seem to be one of the most contentious and complicated issue. The historical development of the protection of intellectual property in the wake of individual private property rights, pushed, the traditional knowledge and the innovative practice based on the it outside the purview of the formal intellectual property protection regime. The need to protect the traditional knowledge captured the attention of the international community only recently but the standard setting was left to the national governments.India an abundant knowledge about the traditional value of various forest products.Natural populations of around 12% of the 6000 species of potentially medicinal plants are currently estimated to be under threat due to degradation and loss of habitats alongside unsustainable ways of harvesting and lack of cultivation. Various suggestions have been advanced in India to extend protection to knowledge, innovations and practices. These include: 1. Documentation of TK; 2. Registration and innovation patent system; and 3. Development of a sui generis system. It is sometimes believed that proper documentation of associated TK could help in checking bio-piracy. Documentation could be a double-edged sword. It is assumed that if the material/ knowledge are documented, it can be made available to patent examiners the world over so that prior art in the case of inventions based on such materials/knowledge are/is readily available to them.