BIOPIRACY: ETHICAL LEGAL AND POLITICAL QUESTIONS IN INDIA
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Abstract
Since times immemorial there has been an age old saying stating that knowledge is power but during the changing times with the advent of intellectual property law it can be said that knowledge is the primary source of property and not only a source of power. Intellectual property has been divided into various sub- parts like copyrights, patents, designs and trademarks where the intellectual right of an individual is protected against any sort of infringement. They generally have monopoly rights over their work for a limited period of time before they are open in the public domain for use. But there is one more kind of intellectual property which is community based and which is created, managed and owned by a group of people and are passed on by one generation to the others as cultural heritage. This form of intellectual property is known as Traditional Knowledge.
‘Traditional Knowledge’ means the protection of rights of local and indigenous people throughout the world as against the knowledge, practice or innovation of their culture or tradition which their community has been following from a long period of time and has been passed on by one generation to the other. The knowledge which comes within the ambit of traditional knowledge is as diverse as folk dances, recipes, handicrafts, scientific or medicinal knowledge or any kind of literary and artistic work. This knowledge is not static but ever evolving as it continuously changes and advances by the interactions of the local communities with their environment and surroundings. It is not written down but passed on by generations and are human memories. There is no one acceptable definition of the term but different organisations and conventions have tried to define it. The Convention on Biological Diversity talks about traditional knowledge as “the knowledge, innovations, and practice of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional life style as well as indigenous and local technologies.”
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