File spoon-archives/aut-op-sy.archive/aut-op-sy_1997/aut-op-sy.9709, message 30


Date: Fri, 05 Sep 1997 21:19:07 -0500
From: Michael Novick <mnovick-AT-laedu.lalc.k12.ca.us>
Subject: AUT: Resisting bio-piracy in India


>Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 02:33:00 +0530 (GMT+5:30)
>From: "<>" <fred-AT-bom2.vsnl.net.in>
>To: il-biotech-AT-unv.ernet.in
>Sender: owner-il-biotech-AT-unv.ernet.in
>Reply-To: il-biotech-AT-unv.ernet.in
>
>India's patent victory is a blow for indigenous knowledge
>
>by Mahesh Uniyal, India Abroad News Service
>
>New  Delhi, Aug 26 - A landmark victory for the developing  world 
>in  its  efforts  to save its traditional  knowledge  from  being 
>"stolen"  by Western commercial interests has enthused  activists 
>campaigning for protection of indigenous intellectual property. 
>
>However,  they caution that India's win in a legal battle over  a 
>U.S. patent on the medicinal properties of turmeric should not be 
>reason for complacency. 
>
>While  describing  the cancellation of the turmeric patent  as  a 
>"remarkable" achievement, they say developing nations will not be 
>able  to  beat the "biopirates" unless they press for  reform  of 
>global intellectual property protection rules. 
>
>The  turmeric  patent was only one of the hundreds  of  cases  of 
>commercial  interests in rich nations claiming ownership of  what 
>has  been known and used for centuries in  developing  countries. 
>Describing  this  as  "biopiracy",  they  say  this  has   become 
>especially  easier under the new world trade rules which  do  not 
>consider indigenous knowledge as being eligible for  intellectual 
>property protection.
>
>"This is a very big achievement, but you cannot have a  piece-by- 
>piece approach," says Ms Suman Sahai of the New Delhi-based  Gene 
>Campaign which is at the forefront of the campaign to change  the 
>global intellectual property rights (IPR) rules.
>
>"We  cannot  go  on  chasing  every  patent  (on  a   traditional 
>knowledge-based  product)," says Mr Devender Sharma, convenor  of 
>the Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security.
>
>This would involve considerable expense and effort. The  turmeric 
>patent  issued to a Mississippi-based medical centre by the  U.S. 
>Patent  and  Trademark  Office  was  successfully  challenged  by 
>India's  Council for Scientific and Industrial  Research  (CSIR).  
>This was the first time a U.S. patent on a traditional developing 
>world remedy was successfully contested. 
>
>According to CSIR Director General Raghunath Mashelkar, the legal 
>battle  cost  Rs  500,000. To back  its  case,  the  organisation 
>submitted a list of 32 scientific documents which showed that the 
>healing properties of turmeric were traditionally known in India.
>
>The cancellation of the patent had shown that Indian institutions 
>were capable of handling complicated techno-legal issues  related 
>to IPRs, he said.
>
>However,  activists  say  that the CSIR  cannot  be  expected  to 
>challenge  every  patent  issued  on  products  based  on  Indian 
>traditional  knowledge.  According to  World  Trade  Organisation 
>(WTO)  rules,  a  patent is issued on grounds  of  novelty,  non- 
>obviousness and distinctiveness. But it is for those  challenging 
>the patent to prove that these conditions are not met.
>
>A  similar challenge a few years ago by a coalition of  some  200 
>non-governmental   organisations  (NGOs)  to  a  patent  on   the 
>herbicidal  properties  of the neem tree, a native of  South  and 
>Southeast   Asia,   was  unsuccessful  because  there   was    no 
>documentary evidence to back it up.
>
>There are at least 65 U.S. patents on the medicinal,  herbicidal, 
>prophylactic,  anti-fungal and other values of products from  the 
>developing world, say activists. These include one on the healing 
>qualities of the Indian gooseberry, locally known as 'amla' (U.S. 
>Patent No. 5529778) and another on India's 'olibanum' tree  which 
>is  a  known cure for 'muskuloskeleton', a  skin  diseases  (U.S. 
>Patent No. 5494668).
>
>Hundreds of patent applications are being filed every year in the 
>U.S.  which include on one 'jaramla' which is traditionally  used 
>in  India  for treating liver disorders, viral  hepatitis  B  and 
>infective hepatitis.
>
>Indian   companies  are  also  laying  claim  to  the   country's 
>traditional  knowledge.  A  Mumbai-based  company  has  filed  an 
>application  for  17 patents on the healing  properties  of  well 
>known Indian herbs.
>
>Activists  point  out that developing nations  should  press  for 
>reform  of existing global IPR laws to make it mandatory  on  the 
>patent applicant to prove that the product does not copy existing 
>knowledge. 
>
>In seeking protection for their traditional knowledge, developing 
>nations   should  take  advantage  of  the  global   biodiversity 
>conservation  treaty  agreed  on at the U.N.  Earth    Summit  in 
>Brazil  in  1992. Most countries except the  United  States  have 
>signed  the  Convention on Biological Diversity   which  protects 
>traditional knowledge of the developing world  and requires those 
>making profit from it to share it with the indigenous communities 
>which have preserved this over the centuries.
>
>According to Gene Campaign's Sahai, developing nations should try 
>to build a bridge between the biodiversity convention and the WTO 
>so that traditional knowledge is protected from piracy.
>
>--India Abroad News Service
>
>
>
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and
educational purposes only.

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