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. Be PART of the solution -- People Against Racist Terror/ PO Box 1055/Culver City CA 90232-1055/310-288-5003/ Order our journal "Turning the Tide." mnovickttt-AT-igc.org Free Mumia Abu Jamal! Free All POW's and Political Prisoners! 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