BIOPROSPECTING OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE: EFFICACY OF EXISTING LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Asian, African and Latin American civilizations are amongst the most ancient ones in the human history, and traditional knowledge systems date from more than 2 million years, when Homo habilis started making his tools and interacting with nature. Countries with ancient cultural traditions are inhabitated by thousands of different traditional (indigenous and local) communities holding traditional knowledge; practiced over a long period of time and constantly evolving. Recognition of the remarkable economic potential of such knowledge has led many multinational corporations of the industrialized nations to “free ride on the genetic resources and traditional knowledge and technologies of the developing countries” (Dutfield, 2006), leading the latter to resent such “biopiracy” or uncompensated exploitation of their natural resources. This has resulted in traditional knowledge being subject to debate and discussion at many international fora.

Traditional knowledge, is a living body of knowledge that is developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity. Devolution, encroachment, the bio prospecting rush, intellectual arrogance, lack of appropriate legal systems and a clash of systems all make traditional knowledge highly vulnerable to bio piracy, patenting of turmeric and neem offer classical example of alleged misappropriation.

Various environmental, trade, and geographically-specific agreements currently offer incomplete, ambiguous, or conflicting provisions relating to bio prospecting activities. One of the biggest threats to biodiversity and related traditional knowledge is ever increasingly bio-prospecting activities on behalf of ethnobotanists, pharmaceutical companies and others who wish to profit from the rich biodiversity and traditional knowledge in indigenous territories. One of the key issues involved in prospecting and commercialization of TK-derived technologies and products is the inadequacies in providing protection of TK through appropriate intellectual property laws and policy measures at national and international levels. 

There is a need to get the proper remedy for protection of traditional knowledge in national, regional, inert-regional and international level, so that the effectivity of traditional knowledge can be used for sustainable development of the communities and for the society at large.

What is required urgently is to develop a national legislation to accord IPR protection to TK- drawn innovations. An efficient and accessible intellectual property system that provides benefits to all must be the common goal of policy makers.

Legal recognition of the rights of the holders of the TK who are mainly the tribal and indigenous people of India is the need of the hour.