The Hindu (Thiruvananthapuram)
At IPR meet, scientists urged to document traditional knowledge
A workshop on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) held at CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) here has called upon the scientic community to document traditional knowledge in a judicious manner to guard against their misuse by vested interests by various means including bio piracy.
The workshop was held at CSIR-NIIST campus here earlier this week in connection with World IPR Day, for which this year’s theme was “IPR and Sustainable Development Goals - Building our common future with innovation and creativity.”
Caution against misuse of traditional knowledge by various means, including bio-piracy
Awareness of patents
In his inaugural address, G.M. Nair, President, Kerala Academy of Sciences and Director, Central Laboratory for Instrumentation and Facilitation (CLIF), University of Kerala, highlighted the importance of enhancing awareness about IPR in general and patents in particular.
He also cautioned against the misuse of traditional knowledge including bio-piracy and the need for documenting the traditional knowledge in a judicious manner.
Citing a case of e ective scientic intervention, Dr Nair lauded the contribution of the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute ( JNTBGRI) scientists in the development and commercialisation of ‘JEEVANI’ from ‘Arogyapacha’ and the subsequent sharing of revenue with Kani tribes. “This was the rst world model of equitable benet sharing based on Article 8(j) of Convention on BioDiversity (CBD),” he noted.
He cautioned the audience that patenting would not have any meaning unless the invented process or product is commercialized.
CSIR-NIIST Director C. Anandharamakrishnan, who presided over the function, spoke on the importance of acquiring patents, copyright and trademarks by the scientic establishments.
R.S. Praveen Raj, convener of the workshop and Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-NIIST, said the event was meant to build awareness among scientists, researchers and innovators on patent search and patent drafting along with exposure to various IPRs and rights of the inventors.
The workshop was attended by about 125 participants.