(b)
Patent Indigenous Varieties
Developed countries have already taken the lead in filing patents
on traditional products like sunflower, ginger, castor and peanuts
while India is yet to establish its biodiversity database indicating
that basmati issue was just the "tip of the iceberg".
"Copious research done by the World Agricultural Forum (WAF) shows
that India is far behind in terms of filing patents pertaining to
herbal, medicinal and agricultural wealth on which other countries
have already taken the lead," WAF coordinator in India, Madan Diwan,
said. He said of the 416 herbal patents filed with the US Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) between 1996-2001, only 18 belonged to India
while US and Canada led with 134 and 66 respectively. Plants for which
maximum number of patents were filed included ginger, tea and aloe
vera of which India was one of the largest producer.
Castor was a classic case of how India was losing out in the patenting
race as over 175 process patents had been filed for industrial purpose,
non-food products, human medicines and agro-products, having long-term
implications. The companies which now had a patent on the process
to be followed and the product they had developed using castor could
form a cartel compelling India to sell the raw material at abysmally
low prices
The same story could be repeated in other products if India did not
put in place a digital library comprising of all the traditional plant
and herbal varieties on one hand and undertook extensive research
to develop various products using these varieties. It has been reported
in certain section of the Press that Nestle has filed a patent on
biryani. Patents have been filed on karela and anaar also. Things
like Kolhapur chappals and Kancheevaram sarees should get geographical
indicators and must be protected before the West adopt them and patent
them.
(c) Formal Training in Patent Laws
Our scientists are not even trained to put their discovery on a proper
format, applying for a patent requires a lot of knowledge-intensive
work. We are not prepared for these challenges. The Law Universities
must dole out advice to entrepreneurs and scientists to cope with
the changing international laws on patenting and Intellectual Property
Rights.
Every R&D organization should appoint a perosn specialized in the
law of Intellectual Property, International Patent Law, TRIPS and
its impact on drug and pharmaceuticals industry, Patent Act, Copyright
Act, Geographical Indications Act, and Trade and Merchandise Marks
Act.
Although the law schools and management schools teach on IPR, the
teaching material is obsolete. This author was told that the Patent
act of 1970 still finds a place in the syllabus ignoring the reality
that everything has changed since WTO. The problem is that the knowledge
on the subject is so peripheral. After the Agreement on Trade Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, everything
has changed. India as a whole is not prepared for facing the international
patent regime, simply because it is very knowledge-intensive. We need
a sea change in the level of awareness."
Our battles to retain turmeric, neem, jamun and herbal products,
among others, illustrate our pathetic appreciation of documentation.
Our insufficient patent awareness is a pity given our embarrassment
of riches in bio-produce. Indian exotica may have captured the world
imagination, but our own efforts to capitalize on this are woeful.
We must gain awareness and patent capability to such an extent that
we could get an international patent on Kerala's Ayurvedic massages
and stress-relieving procedures.
Changing Wind
A constant vigil, monitoring or policing of patents has to be done
on an individual basis. The fight on turmeric was a government initiative
and industry and the government fought the basmati case. Over a period
of time, industry must become smart enough to fight on its own. But
there is a tremendous lack of awareness in industry. However, slowly
it is changing and the intensity of patent filing is increasing. The
drugs and pharmaceuticals industry is becoming smart. In 2000-2001,
CSIR filed 454 foreign patents, against 199 the year before. The good
news is that awareness is growing. ....more
