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Across the cultures, knowledge about use of medicinal plants exists in the
form of local folklore available with families, tribes and cultures, handed down
from generation to generation. Some of this knowledge also exists in written
form as well, but is difficult to interpret due to the local script used.
This paper tries to trace the history of traditional knowledge about the use of
biodiversity over the centuries, examines existing arrangements for
international trade in medicinal plants and, thereafter, proposes strategies to
be followed by developing countries in negotiations on intellectual property
rights (IPRs).
1.0 Introduction
Since ancient times, medicinal herbs were considered as a gift from gods. In
early cultures of the world, herbal healing usually involved purification rites
and prayers by the priest or priestess who built the foundations of herbal
history and passed on their knowledge through song, chant and story to the
next generation. There is no record of the earliest herbal healings except a
Sumerian tablet from around 2500 BC, which lists popular herbs of the era.
Chinese emperor, Shen Nung, discovered medicinal herbs and composed Pents'ao Ching or The Classic Herbal in 2700 BC (Keville, 1991). Rigveda very
Most people in these regions even today live utilizing the benefits from the
herbal plants. Local communities consider the biodiversity of these areas as a
part of their culture and understand need to conserve this for all times to
come (4).
3.0 Traditional Knowledge Systems and Biopiracy
There are about 7000 spp. of medicinal plants and over 15,000 medicines
based on herbal formulations in different systems (5). Further, the traditional
knowledge is drawing global attention as well as patronization due to
awareness regarding the side effects of allopathy. This has not only made the
traditional knowledge systems popular but has also made the indigenous
system prone to `biopiracy' and `patenting' both within the country of origin
as well as outside. One estimate shows that the current value of global
market for the medicinal plants due to traditional knowledge to be alarmingly
at $43 billion! Further this has led to 400% increased efficiency in screening
of medicinal plants (Shiva, 2001) (6). This can be exemplified by grant of
patents on use of products of Neem and Phyllanthus niruri, which had been a
part of the traditional health systems since time immemorial. Although
derived from the indigenous knowledge, the use of products of Neem and
Phyllanthus niruri, WR Grace Company who bagged the patents justifies it to
be novel, as it claims that modernized extraction `processes' constitutes
genuine innovation. So the `product' even though is same as had been used
in Indian traditional systems since time immemorial, the `new process' makes
the same thing novel enough for patenting. This not only implies `wrongful
ownership' of someone else's property but also exploits the rightful owner
without recognizing or protecting the indigenous knowledge. This can be
further confirmed since the patents though can be obtained on slight
modification of the indigenous way of processing for the product, it cannot be
given for indigenous knowledge directly since these are age old practices and
do not meet the three basic criteria for patentability i.e., novelty, nonobviousness and industrial applications.
This false claim on novelty and use of indigenous knowledge for commercial
benefits needs to be checked. It is essential to preserve not only the
traditional and indigenous knowledge but also to preserve the biodiversity of
a locality and culture of the indigenous people from `small time advantages'
in the area of patents, IPRs etc.
Table - I shows some indigenous plants forming a part of the Indian traditional
knowledge over centuries, which have been claimed as novel and patented.