Indian Ocean & South Asia Research Network

Traditional Knowledge Protection in India:
The Significance of Intellectual Property Laws and The Biological Diversity Act 2002.

Professor Natalie Stoianoff

Director of the Master of Industrial Property Program, Faculty of Law, University of Technology, Sydney.

Natalie is the Chair of the Faculty Research Network for Intellectual Property, Media and Communications, and the Convenor of the China Law Research Group. She is a co-author of the Federation Press publication, Intellectual Property Law: Text and Essential Cases, adopted by several Australian universities and now in its third edition. She has been the author of numerous Patent Law Bulletins, for the publication, Lahore’s Patents, Trade Marks & Related Rights Reporter, published by Butterworths, and has edited the multidisciplinary book, Accessing Biological Resources, Complying with the Convention on Biological Diversity, published in 2004 by Kluwer’s International Environmental Law & Policy Series.

Abstract:
India has been at the forefront of mega biologically diverse nations in protecting its sovereign rights over indigenous genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. The Convention on Biological Diversity 1992 provided member nations the opportunity to establish regimes that would regulate foreign and domestic access to valuable genetic resources and traditional and indigenous knowledge while establishing benefit-sharing mechanisms relating to that access. This Convention has also led to significant international debate on the interrelationship with intellectual property rights, particularly patent rights, which are often the aim of the desire to access such genetic resources. Intertwined with this debate has been the impact of the role of traditional knowledge which is not protected under conventional intellectual property regimes. This has led to significant investigation by the World Intellectual Property Organisation revealing the variety of mechanisms that nations have engaged to protect traditional knowledge. India has utilised both its intellectual property laws and the new Biological Diversity Act 2002 to provide an effective regime for the protection of traditional knowledge. This presentation analyses the interaction between these mechanisms and the potential they have in achieving the goal of accruing benefits for the nation.