RECOGNITION AND PROTECTION OF INDIAN TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

AUTHOR – ANURAG SINGH, STUDENT AT SCHOOL OF LAW, GD GOENKA UNIVERSITY, GURUGRAM, HARYANA

BEST CITATION – ANURAG SINGH, RECOGNITION AND PROTECTION OF INDIAN TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES, ILE LEX SPECULUM (ILE LS), 1 (1) OF 2023, PG. 63-82, APIS – 3920 – 0036 | ISBN – 978-81-964391-3-2.

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how traditional knowledge may be stolen and how IP laws have tried to protect it. The Biodiversity Act protects traditional knowledge, but there have also been instances of bio-piracy involving traditional medical knowledge and the use of plants to cure a variety of maladies. The three well-known Indian examples of neem, turmeric, and basmati rice will be used by the author to discuss the necessity to protect traditional knowledge and the concept of bio-piracy. We’ll also look at potential safeguards for holy traditional knowledge and see whether there are any constitutional safeguards for it. The Biological Diversity Act of 2002 and the Forest Rights Act of 2006, among other IPR legislation, both recognize the importance of traditional knowledge (TK) and preserve it. Numerous international agreements have been implemented to protect TK. They include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labor Organization Convention No. 168, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. Since the Convention on Biological Diversity of 1992 and TRIPS of 1995, the place of traditional knowledge in the protection of intellectual property has been the focus of contentious discussions. It is unlikely that a single solution will be able to handle the enormous range of problems and objectives connected with TK protection. Since many indigenous people depend on TK for survival, precautions should be taken to preserve it. Traditional knowledge may be protected by employing already-existing varieties of IP or by combining several distinct kinds of intellectual property while a full sui generis framework for law is being developed.

Keywords: IPR, Traditional Knowledge, biodiversity, forest, bio-piracy, etc.