Traditional knowledge and patent issue relating to and in reference with basmati, golden rice, neem and turmeric

Author: 
Greeshma R and Saleem Ahmed

Intellectual property is the creation of human mind, human intellect and hence called “intellectual property”. This paper emphasis on the traditional knowledge and patent issue relating to and in reference with Basmati, Neem, Turmeric and Golden Rice. Traditional knowledge is a living body of knowledge that is developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity. As such it is not easily protected by the current intellectual property system, which typically grants protection for a limited period to inventions and original works by named individuals or companies. Its living nature also means that traditional knowledge which is not easy to define. Various local communities possess knowledge, innovations and peculiar practices developed from experience gained over centuries and adapted to the local culture and environment. For the purpose of recognition such knowledge is categorized as traditional knowledge. Traditional knowledge could be understood as knowledge which has been gathered or accumulated by a community through years of experience. Thus intellectual property law protects a content- creator’s interest in their ideas by assigning and enforcing legal rights to produce and control physical instantiations of those ideas. This paper also covers patent issues with reference to Basmati, Neem, Turmeric and Golden Rice. A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem and is a product or a process. Patents are a form of intellectual property. It also implies that a grant of a monopoly to an inventor who has used his knowledge and skills to produce a product or process which is new involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial applications.

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DOI: 
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijcar.2017.6145.0881
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Volume6
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