This Long Article has been written by GOPIKA.B and co-authored by Dr. ARUN.D RAJ. Gopika and Arun are Law students at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University, Chennai campus.
ABSTRACT
Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (TK) encompasses the distinctive traditions, agricultural practices, medicinal practices, and folklore of indigenous people that have been accumulating for centuries. The contemporary laws of intellectual property (IP) consider TK to be lacking protective measures which undermines its immense significance, both scientific and cultural. This research attempts to find a solution at the intersection of TK and IP law by highlighting the comprehensive legal system which seems to provide a framework to address the uniqueness of TK and its moral intricacies in achieving justice for Indigenous peoples. This paper outlines categories of TK, their value in contemporary society, and other issues concerning misappropriation and exploitation. This research attempts to provide an analysis of existing paradigms of IP and explain why they do not provide adequate protection to TK, leading to the conflicts emerging vis a vis varying notion of rights and ownership. This research investigates more actively other global instruments like the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol and develops a systemic survey of regional modern approaches to the problem of TK protection. This research aims to analyze case studies of attempts to conserve TK and identify the lessons learned from both successes and failures. It promotes solution approaches applicable at the time like the community centered approaches, hybrid legal approaches, and democratic society functions with indigenous participation in decision making within policies. The conclusion highlights the need to try to achieve a better balance of ethical harmony concerning indigenous peoples and contemporary frameworks of intellectual property systems. The results of this study explain the need for urgent collective action to resolve the problematic issue of straining the deadlock of safeguarding the TK while promoting innovation and economic growth. In this paper, there is a strong policy advocacy appeal directed toward governments and inter-parliamentary international bodies stressing the serious need to take steps to protect, preserve, and sustain traditional knowledge as a part of intangible cultural heritage and public health resources.
