Subham S. Chatterjee in this paper has attempted to provide an overview of the concept of biopiracy and its modern day significance in the world of IPR, especially in context with biodiversity in India.
Abstract
In this paper, an attempt has been made by the author to provide an overview of the concept of biopiracy and its modern day significance in the world of IPR, especially in context with biodiversity in India. Biopiracy is a very new concept and so it has been a
sincere attempt of the author to familiarize the readers about the importance of biodiversity, the issues relating to it e.g. benefit sharing, the correlation between biodiversity and biopiracy and how grave the consequences of biopiracy can be to the nation and to some other sections of the society, especially the traditional communities. The paper stresses on the importance of the issue at the international level and the efforts that have been taken at the national as well as international level to combat biopiracy. The paper also explains some of the other important concepts, closely associated with biopiracy, such as traditional knowledge, TKDL etc. The author has also stressed on the legal angle of the entire issue i.e. Indian legislations to combat the menace as well as the various international agreements and conventions, which have been enacted or entered into by the world community to make biopiracy legally impossible. For a better understanding of the concept, in context of the current scenario, and the procedure to combat it, the author has discussed real world cases where such attempts have been foiled by the government of India or where the government failed to prevent such a traditional knowledge from being patented. In conclusion, the author has proposed certain novel efforts which, if adopted and executed effectively, might go a long way in protecting the “Green Gold” (i.e. bio-resources).