This Short article has been written by Sadhana Umashankar Prasad. Sadhana is a law student at Gokul Global University, Sidhpur, Gujarat.
ABSTRACT
India is one of the largest countries in the world with different biodiversity. Mainly, the livelihoods of indigenous peoples depend on the preservation and protection of traditional knowledge about the use and operation of biological and natural resources. In recent years, traditional knowledge has become more and more important, and multinational companies and research institutions have used this knowledge for commercial purposes for free. This jeopardizes the protection of traditional knowledge by local and indigenous communities, which seems to be one of the most contentious and difficult issues. Even India’s dominant intellectual property, access and benefit sharing paradigm cannot fully protect knowledge because it reflects Western norms and laws and only focuses on the protection of intellectual property rights in the community. India has witnessed many incidents of biological plagiarism and a more comprehensive approach is needed to protect community rights and novices and biological genetic resources from such misappropriation. By enumerating various cases of biological piracy, the necessary steps to protect new technologies and biodiversity are necessary. Even India’s dominant IPRs, access and benefit sharing paradigm cannot fully protect knowledge because it reflects Western norms and laws and only focuses on the protection of IPRs in the community. India’s traditional knowledge is proving to be a powerful weapon in the fight against false patents, sometimes referred to as “bio-piracy”. Our country has witnessed many incidents of bio piracy and a good inclusive approach is needed to protect the rights of the community, novices and biological genetic resources from such misuse. By enumerating the various cases of bio-piracy, it is necessary to take necessary steps to protect new technologies and biodiversity.
