Question
What is biopiracy? Give specific examples of biopiracy cases involving Indian biological resources. How does India protect its traditional knowledge from biopiracy? What role does the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) play?
(NEET + CBSE Board pattern)
Solution — Step by Step
Biopiracy is the exploitation of biological resources and traditional knowledge of developing countries by developed nations or multinational companies, without proper authorization, compensation, or benefit-sharing with the source country or community.
Essentially: someone takes your knowledge or biological resource, patents it, and profits — without giving you credit or payment.
| Case | What Happened | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Turmeric (wound healing) | US Patent Office granted patent to University of Mississippi for using turmeric in wound healing (1995) | India’s CSIR challenged it. Patent revoked in 1997 — India proved turmeric had been used for centuries |
| Neem (fungicidal) | European Patent Office granted patent to W.R. Grace Co. for neem-based fungicide | India challenged successfully — patent revoked in 2005 after 10 years of legal battle |
| Basmati rice | US company RiceTec patented certain Basmati rice lines | India challenged. Most claims withdrawn/narrowed |
-
Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) — A database of 2.5 lakh+ formulations from Indian systems of medicine (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Yoga). Available to patent offices worldwide so they can reject patents based on prior art from Indian traditional knowledge.
-
Biodiversity Act, 2002 — Regulates access to biological resources and associated traditional knowledge. Requires approval from the National Biodiversity Authority for any commercial use.
-
Patent Amendment Act — Requires disclosure of source of biological material and traditional knowledge in patent applications.
graph TD
A["Biopiracy Cases"] --> B["Turmeric Patent - USA"]
A --> C["Neem Patent - Europe"]
A --> D["Basmati Rice - USA"]
B --> E["India challenged: REVOKED 1997"]
C --> F["India challenged: REVOKED 2005"]
D --> G["Claims narrowed"]
H["Protection Measures"] --> I["TKDL Database"]
H --> J["Biodiversity Act 2002"]
H --> K["Patent Amendment Act"]
style A fill:#fca5a5,stroke:#000,stroke-width:2px
style H fill:#86efac,stroke:#000,stroke-width:2pxWhy This Works
Biopiracy thrives on information asymmetry — patent offices in the US or Europe may not know that turmeric has been used in India for thousands of years. Without documented prior art, they grant patents for “novel” inventions that are actually ancient knowledge.
The TKDL solved this by translating 2.5 lakh formulations from Sanskrit, Hindi, Arabic, Persian, and Tamil texts into English and making them available to international patent offices. Now, when someone applies for a patent based on traditional Indian knowledge, the examiner can find prior art in the TKDL and reject the application.
Common Mistake
Students often write that biopiracy is “stealing plants from another country.” While that can be part of it, biopiracy specifically involves patenting biological resources or traditional knowledge without permission or benefit-sharing. Simply collecting a plant is not biopiracy — patenting its medicinal use without acknowledging the indigenous community’s knowledge IS biopiracy.
For NEET, the three cases to memorise are: Turmeric (wound healing, US patent, revoked 1997), Neem (fungicidal, European patent, revoked 2005), and Basmati rice (US patent, claims narrowed). The TKDL was created in 2001 specifically to prevent such cases from recurring. These facts appear in NEET every 2-3 years.