Traditional medicines and medicinal plants, and their protection modalities from an Intellectual Property Rights perspective.

摘要

The most unique feature of the traditional systems of medicine is their reliance on natural products of vegetable and/or animal origin, occasionally fortified with minerals, both metals and metalloids. Natural products of plant origin occupy a prominent position in the ancient healthcare systems, underlining the significance of medicinal plants. The developing countries that possess enormous wealth in the form of their heritage of traditional knowledge-based indigenous systems of healthcare, lack appropriate modalities for protection of these systems and the medicinal plants on which they are primarily based, from unauthorized third-party exploitation. Therefore, developing countries need to ensure internationally acceptable, legally valid appropriate protection based on available systems of property protection or newly developed 'Sui Generis' (special protection) systems, and also to develop concurrent strategies to realize economic advantages to the less-privileged nations through value addition of nascent assets. In spite of various proposals, no satisfactory solution has so far been reached for the protection of these assets. Any acceptable measure for achieving the stated objectives should address issues of equity considerations among the owners and users of the knowledge, conservation concerns, preservation of traditional practices and culture, prevention of unauthorized appropriation and promotion of their use for sustainable development. A combination of appropriate elements from the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Systems (TRIPS), including extension of patentability provisions for traditional medicines and medicinal plants as such, or through their established utility, invoking trade secrets clauses wherever applicable, the various restrictive clauses under the Convention on Biodiversity, the Plant Varieties Protection and Farmers Rights Act, Geographical Indications Act and one or more pro-active 'Sui Generis' legislations may enable the protection of traditional knowledge-based herbal drugs and medicinal plants. Such protection will prevent exploitation by third parties without permission from the owners of such property. At the same time they could create considerable value addition to the owners and create economic and technological strengths for the countries of their origin..