Section 3(p) in The Patents Act, 1970:

The Section 3 in The Patents Act, 1970, talks about the inventions, which are not considered
as inventions, where the Section 3(p), refers to an invention which in effect, is traditional
knowledge or which is an aggregation of duplication of known properties of traditionally
known component or components, is not considered as an invention. Thus, any invention or
any inventive concept which was already existing (in prior art) is non-patentable. Whereas
prior art refers to traditional knowledge or the knowledge which was with the public from a
long time and is passed from generation to generation. For example: Use of turmeric, neem,
Tulsi, etc. is not patentable as it is traditionally known.

Although, if someone develops a medicine from tradition plant, then it is patentable. For
example: Ointment having an active ingredient that is an extract from leaf of the plant, is
patentable.

Geographical indications act:

“Geographical indication” refers any indication which identifies goods as originating in a

particular country, region or locality where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic
of the goods is essentially attributable to its geographic origin. And Geographical indications
Act is an act to provide for the protection and registration of geographical indications.

Geographical indications registration can benefit in growing income of the artisans, farmers,
weavers and craftsmen. Geographical indications also protects the unique skills and
knowledge of traditional and regional practices of GI producers by promoting their GI
products.

For example: Basmati Rice, Alphanso Mango, Nagpur Orange, Kolhapuri Chappal, Bikaneri
Bhujia, Agra Petha, Paithani and Banaras Saree, Feni (Liquor from Goa), Lonavala Chikki,
Tirunelveli Halwa, Mysore Rasam, etc.

GI’s does not directly associate with Traditional knowledge, but it may be used to indirectly
contribute to their protection, by preserving them for future generations.
TKDL- TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE DIGITAL LIBRARY

India was the first country to initiate a traditional knowledge digital library in 2001. It is in
collaboration with Council of scientific and industrial research (CSIR), Ministry of science
and technology and the department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, unani, siddha and
homeopathy (AYUSH), ministry of health and family welfare of India. It was created by a
panel of experts including traditional medicine experts of unani, yoga, Ayurveda, IT experts,
scientists and other technical experts. It is a form of defensive mechanism to prevent third
parties from misusing traditional knowledge.

Protection of traditional knowledge relating to medicines becomes important as in India there

are local communities in large numbers dependent on it for earning their livelihood. The
increase in use of traditional medicines all over the world also calls for protection of
traditional knowledge regarding medicines. A lot of data regarding traditional medicines is
published in languages like Tamil, Urdu, Arabic which is hard to understand by the
examiners.

The traditional knowledge digital library has successfully converted data related to traditional
Indian medicines from ancient text to several international languages like English, Japanese,
French, German and Spanish, with the help of information technology tools and an
innovative classification system that is traditional knowledge resource classification. It is
meant for the purpose of systematically arranging, disseminating and retrieving the data. The
portal has made it possible for the examiners to understand the traditional knowledge and
avoid its misuse by others. There are more than 3 lakh practices till date that have been
registered in the database. It contains over 34 million pages in digital format.

The traditional knowledge resource classification (TKRC) has classified the medicines into
several subgroups which come under Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Yoga. These categories
or subgroups have made it possible to examine the prior art properly in relation to patent
applications for traditional medicine. Traditional knowledge database library (TKDL) has
also set international specifications and standards for setting up of traditional knowledge
databases based on TKDL specifications. It acts as a bridge between prior art (traditional
medicine knowledge) and patent examiners thereby avoiding wrongful grants of patents.
Agreements are also signed with top patent granting offices like European Patent office
(EPO), United Kingdom Trademark and Patent Office (UKTPO) ,United States Patent and
Trademark office, Canadian Intellectual Property Office, IP Australia, and German Patent
Office to safeguard traditional knowledge and grant access to the International Patent officers
to TKDL for the purpose of examination and grant of patents.

The Biodiversity Act of India, 2002

The Biodiversity Act commands approvals from the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)
which means a person or entity require to obtain prior approval from the NBA- which
established as a legal body, headquarter in Chennai under the Ministry of Environment and
Forests, Government of India set up in 2003 to execute the provisions under the Act. State
Biodiversity Boards (SBB) is composed of Indian citizens with 31,574 Biological
management committees across 29 states of India. It helps in responding with the request
from NBA and SBB to giving access and utilize biological resources such as micro-
organisations, plants, animals, their genetic material and by-products excluding the value-
added products not including human genetic material and knowledge related to biological, or
for any research purpose, business usage, survey related to bio and for licensing intellectual
property for transfer any result of research. 

Here are some regulations under BA. As defined in Clause (30) of section 2 of The Income
Tax Act,1961 that any foreign company requires permission from the NBA prior to accessing
any biological resources or knowledge from India for research purposes. Whereas Indian
need to take permission from SBB.  No individual should apply for patent or other type of IP
protection dependent on the research which includes biological resources without the consent
of the NBA
The objective of such Act is to maintain and control the legitimate use of biological diverse
segments. And to ensure equitable distribution of benefits such as utilization. It provides for a
safeguard of traditional knowledge, prevents biopiracy, and restricts people from claiming
patents without the government’s permission. 

 Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act

The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act was passed by the Indian
Government in 2001. After India became signatory to the Trade Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPs) in 1994, a legislation was needed to be
planned. Article 27.3 (b) of this arrangement requires people to provide for protection of
plant varieties either by a patent or by a successful sui generis framework or by any
combination thereof. Along with these, the people had the choice to decide legislation that
suit their own system and India practiced this choice. The current Indian Patent Act, 1970
avoided agriculture and agricultural strategies of production from patentability. The sui
generis framework for protection of plant varieties was created for protecting the rights of
breeders, farmers and villagers and improving and making= plant genetic resources available
for the development of new plant varieties by keeping the equitable benefits in mind.

Indian legislation isn't just in conformity with International Union for the Protection of New
Varieties of Plants (UPOV), 1978, yet additionally they have adequate provisions to protect
the interests of breeding foundations and the farmers as well. The contribution perceives by
both the side from farmers and breeders in plant activity. They also provide TRIPs in
response to support the socio-economic interest of all other stakeholders including the private
and public sector institutions and resource hinder farmers. 

Scheduled Tribes And Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition Of Forest

Rights) Act, 2006

The Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 provides rights to the marginalised tribal communities
residing in forests and balances the right to environment (forest resources) with the right to
life and livelihood. These tribal communities are dependent on the forests for their livelihood,
occupancy and other socio-cultural needs. This act recognises the important relationship of
tribal communities with the forest they live in and its related resources which they use which
was not done in both colonial and post-colonial era till the enactment of this act. This act
gives rights to forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers over
sustainable use of forest resources, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of
ecological balance.

The act grants individual and community rights to the forest dwellers. Any person who
belongs to the schedule tribe can claim rights to reside and cultivate in forest land up to 4
hectares. The community rights give power to the gram Sabha over forest land within the
village limitations. This makes it easier for the villagers to use its resources and regenerate it
for example they can use its water bodies, do fishing, grazing etc. They can also stop others
from destroying their resources or their traditional tribal practices/heritage. It also provides
rights to Traditional Seasonal Resource access of Nomadic and Pastoral community, access
to biodiversity, community right to intellectual property and traditional knowledge,
recognition of traditional customary rights. The dweller cannot be removed from the forests
without proper rehabilitation and settlement under the Rehabilitation and Settlement Act,
2013.

References:

Ministry of Tribal Affairs, government of India. (2021, January 31). Retrieved from
https://tribal.nic.in/FRA.aspx

About the traditional knowledge digital library. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/2011/wipo_tkdl_del_11/about_tkdl.html

About TKDL. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.tkdl.res.in/tkdl/langdefault/common/Abouttkdl.asp?GL=Eng

Drishti IAS. (2019, May 10). The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act.
Retrieved January 31, 2021, from https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-
news-analysis/the-protection-of-plant-varieties-and-farmers-rights-act

Sapra, A. (2019, November 12). The Biodiversity Act of India: An Introduction -

Environment - India. Retrieved January 31, 2021, from
https://www.mondaq.com/india/environmental-law/862744/the-biodiversity-act-of-
india-an-introduction

Patel, H., & Lodha, S. (2020, May 06). Case Study on Rejected Patents in India. Retrieved
January 31, 2021, from https://www.intechopen.com/books/intellectual-property-
rights-patent/case-study-on-rejected-patents-in-india

Home. (2020, April 22). Retrieved January 31, 2021, from

https://www.effectualservices.com/section-3-of-indian-patent-act-importance-and-
interpretation/
Wipo.int. 2021. Frequently Asked Questions: Geographical Indications. [online] Available at:
https://www.wipo.int/geo_indications/en/faq_geographicalindications.html [Accessed 31
January 2021].

Mondaq.com. 2021. Role Of Geographical Indications In The Field Of Traditional

Knowledge – Intellectual Property – India. [online] Available at:
https://www.mondaq.com/india/intellectual-property/56866/role-of-geographical-indications-
in-the-field-of-traditional-knowledge [Accessed 31 January 2021]