“Traditional Knowledge Digital Library ” Presentation Adapted from Dr. V K Gupta, CSIR
Traditional Knowledge and Genetic Resources
Associated TK is critical for ABS purposes
Rights on knowledge get recognised in the Patent System
Traditional Knowledge gets misappropriated in the
International Patent System due to lack of access to such
knowledge Systems by the Patent Examiners
Preventing Misappropriation of Indian Traditional Knowledge
Break Format & Language barriers
Current use by Patent Offices
Multilingual
(French, German, Japanese, English & Spanish)
Objectives & Target Audience TKDL
Neem Patent Case - EP436257 at
European patent Office (EPO)
• Date of Grant 4 August 1994
• Date of Opposition 14 June 1995
• Date of Final Rejection 8 March 2005
• No. of documents submitted by Applicant 47
during opposition
• No. of documents submitted 45
by the Opposing Party
• No. of oral hearings after Opposition 20
• Average time between hearings 3 to 4 months
• No. of Lawyers/ Examiners in each hearing 8
Complexities & Context of International
Opposition on granted patents
(Case Basmati Patent – Invalidation & Protection efforts by APEDA)
Engagged K&S Partners (1995 - 96 to 2011-12) paid towards legal fees Rs. 7.62 crores (Rs. 5.1 crores to foreign law firm)(2.0 million US $)
Outcome of efforts
Got Cancelled 3 claims of M/S Rice Tech at USPTO
Trade mark Registration of Basmati at US & Pakistan
Watch on trade mark registration in foreign jurisdiction
Initiation for GI registration in India so far not successful
In addition to legal cost equal amount likely to be spent in travel and other administrative costs. Therefore cost invalidation of granted patent at International level could be 2-3 million US $
IPC and Structure of Classification
SECTIONS
CLASSES
SUB-CLASSES
MAIN GROUPS
SUBGROUPS
8
120
628
69,000
Stages of Formal Acceptance of
Traditional Knowledge Classifications
Feb 2001
• India submitted a approval on inclusion of Traditional Knowledge at International Patent Classification Union
• Task Force of five Nations constituted by WIPO
Feb 2002
• Task Force recommends creation of subclass in A61 linking Traditional Knowledge Recourse Classification developed by India with International patent Classification
Stages of Formal Acceptance of
Traditional Knowledge Classifications
Feb 2003
• International Patent Classification Union adopted 200 subgroup for publication by July, 2005
• Accords formal recognition and acceptance of Traditional Knowledge as a distinct discipline at International level
Oct 2004
• Deliberations on IPC-TKRC concordance list of the new main group A61K 36/00
Status
Ayurveda
91,410
Unani
1,29,170
Siddha
15,290
Yoga
1,305
Total 0.250
Million
TKDL ready to safeguard 0.250 million medicinal formulations like Neem and Turmeric in Ayurveda ,Unani and Siddha which are present in 34 million A4 size pages, at
International Level
Cost/ Effectiveness of TKDL
No. of A4 Size page information in 5 international languages
Expenditure Incurred
34 Million
3.0 Million US $
Translation Route Skill needed, knowledge of Ayurveda/ Unani/ Siddha/ Sanskrit/ Persian/ Tamil/ German/English/French/Japanese/Spanish/Modern medicine & Science Incase above skill set was available, it would have costed 4.0 billion US $, a team of 5000 and time period of 60 years against the team of 100 and cost of 3.0 million US$
TKDL protects 0.25 million formulations based on Neem cases, cost of such protection would be astronomical(200 billion US$).
TKDL Route
WIPO has plans to Internationalise TKDL to utilise Indian TKDL as a template for other willing Countries rich in TK and GR
World Intellectual Property Organisation, Geneva
April-2010
Access to TKDL
Users Shall not disclose the content to third
party
Shall utilize for patent search & examiners, can give printouts to patent applicants for citation purposes
No use other than search & examination
Will provide non-confidential information received from applicant on usage to provider
Will give feedback for enhancing the features of TKDL
Provider Shall provide uninterrupted
access
Training to users (as and when needed)
Render assistance in search & examination (as & when needed)
Free to utilize for itself & can grant access to others
European Patent
Office Feb
2009
Indian Patent
Office
July
2009
IP Australia
German patent
Office Oct
2009
UK Patent &
Trademark Office Feb
2010
Jan
2011 IP Australia
Nov
2009
U S Patent &
Trademark Office
Canadian
I P Office Sept
2010
Japan Patent
Office April
2011
Access Agreement with USPTO was signed on the
sideline of the state visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister to United states
TKDL Access Agreement to International Patent Offices
(CCEA has approved access to TKDL for International Patent Offices)
Global Watch System
Examine claims on Novelty with TKDL Prior art
Submit Prior art evidences as per respective National Legislation
Monitor 24 x 7 basis, applications concerning TK/GR at identified Patent Offices
Submission of TKDL based evidences
Preparing the necessary interventions and evidences, for
filing at IPOs
Screening of Third Party Observations (TPO)
Filing of TKDL Evidences
Outcomes realised through (Cancellation/ Withdrawn/
Amendment of Claims)
USA
UK
105
Total
No. of Cases of MNCs identified on Bio-Piracy where TKDL Prior-art evidences submitted
239 31
26 05
990 Total
Germany 48 07
Italy 45 08
Japan 49 10
Australia 37 05
Others 455 39
For details log on to http://www.tkdl.res.in
Outcomes realised through (Cancellation/ Withdrawn/
Amendment of Claims)
EPO
USPTO
IP Australia
CIPO
UKPTO
105 Total
No. of Cases of MNCs identified on Bio-Piracy where TKDL Prior-art evidences submitted
374 74
50 03
139 19
26 01
241 08
IP Australia
CGPDTM 160 -
990 Total
For details log on to http://www.tkdl.res.in
TKDL AS DETERRENT
NO. OF PATENT APPLICATIONS FILED AT EPO ON MEDICINAL PLANTS(A61K 36/00) IN PARTICULAR
CONCERNING INDIAN SYSTEM OF MEDICINE
Year Period
Feb-Sept Oct-Jan
2005 65 26
2006 55 25
2007 30 24
2008 41 25
2009 35 14
After 6 months of conclusion of TKDL Access Agreement with EPO, Percentage Reduction during Oct - Jan (2009-10) in filing of application=44%
Brahmi Ginger
Pistacia
Vera Melon Mint
Terminalia
Arjuna
Withania
Somnifera
TKDL Out-Comes Against Bio-Piracy Successfully safeguarded Bio-piracy attempts to patent Medicinal Plants (usages)
Aloe Vera Cannabis
Andrographis
Learning from TKDL
TK is a new experience even for International Patent System.
Examiners can have different opinion concerning novelty / inventive step with in a Patent Office itself and even across International Patent Offices.
Indian Patent Act has a provision under Section 3(P) accordingly knowledge which in effect is a Traditional Knowledge can not be patented.
Guidelines to ascertain novelty / inventive step in Traditional Knowledge based patent applications.
Inclusion of TKDL in PCT Minimum Documentation.
Limitations of TKDL
TKDL is a Defensive Technical tool only.
Currently it is limited to Indian medicinal plants and those
documented knowledge only
Access to TKDL is Limited to International Patent Offices only.
TKDL is not a substitute for an international legally binding
instrument for protection of Traditional Knowledge rather it would
compliment such a system as & when it get established.
In addition to International legally binding instrument databases such
as TKDL, International System need to evolve practical guidelines
which can help examiners in ascertaining the novelty & inventive step.
The Next Steps
Currently the National Biodiversity Authority is
developing the concept of
TKDL Plus
Focus on implementation of Nagoya Protocol at
national level