Authored By: Adrita Chowdhury
George School of Law, Calcutta University
Abstract
The traditional knowledge of India is a huge part of our cultural and practical life. But these practices and knowledge systems face many difficulties because of the absence of proper legislative works to protect them. This research mainly talks about how traditional knowledge is used in different ways, especially economic and cultural, and also discusses some important cases that show the problems India has faced in protecting its indigenous knowledge. These cases highlight the need for proper documentation of traditional art, music, and other forms so that they can be easily identified and safeguarded. Even though we have some legal frameworks like IPR and the Patent Act, they still need better interpretation to create a proper Sui-generis protection for traditional knowledge. Therefore, as the article says, it is very important to preserve, respect, and develop the legacy of traditional knowledge, which is a vital part of India’s history.
Keywords: Traditional Knowledge, Culture, Folklore, Indigenous, Bio-piracy, Bio-diversity, Copyright, Sustainability, Patent Act, Traditional Medicine, India, Language.
Acknowledgment
I am writing to express my gratitude to ‘record of law’ for Insightful guidance during the internship. I’m also thankful to ‘record of law’ for providing me with the opportunity to gain practical insight into legal research and for creating a conducive environment for learning.
I hereby acknowledge that this paper is my Original work and has been prepared exclusively for submission as part of the requirement for this internship.
- Introduction
“Traditional knowledge is the collective wisdom of generations, deserving protection as a national treasure.”1 – Vandana Shiva
Knowledge is the collective result of ideas and innovations, refined over years and used to solve everyday challenges. Ideas and innovations are often developed to solve specific problems. When people begin to use them consistently, they are passed down from generation to generation and eventually become a part of collective knowledge.
Now, what makes the knowledge ‘Traditional’? It is not defined solely by antiquity, but by its collective practice, cultural acceptance and transmission within a community as part of its way of life. There are many forms of traditional knowledge that may not be ancient, yet they remain equally vital and relevant in the contemporary world. Traditional knowledge is also known as indigenous knowledge because of the practices of indigenous and local communities around the world.
Traditional knowledge varies across geographical regions. The Indian subcontinent spans approximately 329 million hectares and is the second largest in Asia and one of the largest in the world in terms of geographical area2. Naturally, this vast and diverse landscape contributes significantly to biodiversity, as variations in region lead to changes in climate, traditional knowledge, and biological resources.
The term ‘traditional knowledge’ is used to describe various forms of knowledge, including agricultural knowledge, scientific knowledge, ecological knowledge, and medical knowledge, as well as traditional remedies and practices such as Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Acupuncture, Kampo, Yoga, and Siddha3. It also extends to traditional music, storytelling, dance forms, art forms, and handicrafts. The Ministry of Textiles promotes and supports several handicraft-based industries, and numerous artists specialize in traditional art forms such as Warli, Kalamkari, Madhubani, Pithora, Gond, and Pattachitra4.
The Importance and Threats to the Protection of Traditional Kmowledge “When an elder dies, a library burns”5 – Amadou Hampate Ba.
The line describe the significance of traditional knowledge, as it is largely transmitted orally from one generation to the other and it does not always exist in written form. Therefore, the loss of an elder can be regarded as the loss of invaluable cultural and traditional knowledge, including folklore and sustainable practices.
Traditional knowledge holds significance in various ways, from preserving cultural identity to safeguarding biodiversity. Its legal protection has become essential due to increasing threats of misappropriation, commercialization, and loss of indigenous practices.
2.1.1. Preservation of Cultural Identity:
Indigenous people use traditional knowledge passed down from their ancestors to preserve their culture and identity. It also used as a strategy to adapt their way of life according to their environment. This knowledge includes their community’s music, stories, folklore, customs and language. In today’s time, when people are moving across the world, the preservation of traditional knowledge helps the younger generation feel a sense of belonging to their community by learning and practicing their culture.
2.1.2. Spreading the Use of Traditional Medicine:
India is home to over 70 million tribal people and around 550 communities, and each community has its own ways of treating diseases and maintaining physical and mental well-being. Ayurveda is known as one of the oldest forms of treatment in India. The basic theories of Indian traditional medicine are based on the five natural elements described in Vedic culture6. In modern healthcare, traditional medicine can be used to create sustainable results and to reduce the dependence on chemical-based medicines that often have side effects.
2.1.3. Protection of Biodiversity:
India is rich in biodiversity, and indigenous communities, through their traditional knowledge, play a vital role in protecting it. These communities consider themselves a part of nature. They build their lifestyle with the help of their surrounding environment and respect all living beings. Many indigenous communities conserve biodiversity by creating myths, stories, beliefs, and rituals; sometimes they even start worshipping certain plants or animals to protect them. This knowledge is mostly passed down orally from one generation to another7.
2.2.Exploitation of Traditional Knowledge:
Traditional knowledge has faced various forms of discrimination and exploitation throughout the years. With the growing accessibility of modern technologies and practices, people tend to forget their own culture and traditions — sometimes even their native languages. Another concern arises when the younger generation stops respecting those traditions and begins to follow different cultural practices8.
2.2.1. Threat Towards Language
Language is the primary medium for expressing or describing objects and for communicating our thoughts, feelings, and ideas to others. Indigenous communities have developed and transmitted their knowledge through their own languages, often through oral traditions. However, due to colonization and modernization, many indigenous languages have been exploited, diluted, or replaced. In many cases, foreign or modern languages have mixed with traditional ones, making the transmission of traditional knowledge difficult. For instance, knowledge related to traditional medicine, which is shared within an indigenous group speaking a distinct language, cannot be effectively transmitted if that language becomes extinct9.
2.2.2. Colonization and Modernization
The preservation of indigenous knowledge has been endangered for several reasons such as migration, modernization, and colonization. India, being a colonized country for over 200 years under various foreign powers, was heavily influenced by external cultures. Consequently, its own cultural and traditional systems were exploited and suppressed. For example, India possesses a rich variety of traditional knowledge across its regions, much of which has been forgotten and only regained recognition when the Western world showed interest in it. This reflects a concerning negligence towards one’s own cultural heritage10.
2.2.3. Bio-Piracy
Bio-piracy is considered one of the most serious threats to the legacy of traditional knowledge. It raises significant legal as well as ethical concerns. Bio-piracy generally refers to the unauthorized and commercial use of indigenous knowledge, traditional resources, or natural ingredients, often for the profit of third parties without the consent of the community that originally developed the practices11. In many developing or underdeveloped countries, indigenous communities are unaware of intellectual property rights or patent laws. This lack of awareness is exploited by industries or corporations from developed nations, resulting in bio-piracy. Notable examples include the Neem and Turmeric cases of India, both well-known instances of bio-piracy. To safeguard such traditional knowledge, India has implemented various protective mechanisms and international frameworks, such as the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) and participation in relevant protocols and conventions12.
- Legal Mechanism of India to protect the Traditional Knowledge
India has over 45,500 plant species and 91,200 animal species documented, and among them, about 7,500 species of plants are used by 4,635 ethnic communities for healthcare, as surveyed by the All India Ethnobiology Survey. Recognising the importance of preserving, India has developed several legal mechanisms to ensure their protection and sustainable utilisation13.
3.1.National Level :
3.1.1. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002
India enacted this Act in 2002 to promote the conservation biological diversity and ensure the sustainable and fair use of its components and biological resources. The Act provides the actual meaning of biodiversity in Section 2(b):
“The variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part, and includes diversity within species or between species and of ecosystems.”
Section 2(c) also defines biological resources, which helps in identifying the resources that need preservation.14
Section 21 of the Act promotes equitable benefit sharing, meaning whenever any person—such as a company or an individual—uses natural resources or traditional knowledge from an Indian community for commercial purposes, they have to share the profits equally with the indigenous community from whom the knowledge originated15.
The Act also established an authority known as the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)16, which has the power to decide the terms and amount of benefit sharing and is also responsible for managing the related funds.
The main aim of the Act is to ensure that any person who uses a natural resource for commercial purposes obtains prior consent and shares the benefits with the community to whom the knowledge belongs.
3.1.2. The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL)
The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) was established in 2001 as a pioneering initiative of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), under the Ministry of Science and Technology, in collaboration with the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India17.
The goal of the TKDL is to overcome language and cultural barriers and make traditional knowledge accessible to industries and individuals. It also helps by converting ancient Indian knowledge into different international languages.
For example, it contains information from the Indian systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Yoga. This knowledge, originally written in local languages like Sanskrit, Tamil, and Urdu, has been digitized and translated into various international languages18.
Based on the third-party observations submitted by TKDL, many patent applications have been rejected or withdrawn. TKDL has helped India protect numerous traditional formulations—over 0.25 million formulations are currently protected through this initiative19.
WIPO, About the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, available at:
https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/2011/wipo_tkdl_del_11/about_tkdl.html (last visited on OCT 23, 2025 ). 18. Dattatraya Trayambak Kalbande & Priya Suradkar, Traditional Knowledge Digital Library: A Magic Bullet in the War Against Biopiracy, Library Philosophy & Practice (e-journal), No. 6108 (2021), available at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/6108.
3.1.3. Geographical Indications Act, 1999
The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 provides legal protection to products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, reputation, or characteristics attributable to that origin.
Article 22 of the TRIPS Agreement recognizes geographical indications as those signs that identify a good as originating from a specific place, where its quality, reputation, or other characteristics are essentially linked to that place.
Section 2 of the Geographical Indications Act defines the categories of goods that may be registered under the Act, including notable examples such as Darjeeling tea and Basmati rice.20
3.1.4. The Patent Act, 1970:
The Patents Act, 1970 was enacted to replace the earlier Patents and Designs Act and to establish a comprehensive legal framework for patents in India21.
The Act explicitly excludes the patenting of traditional knowledge, ensuring that neither individuals nor companies can claim exclusive rights over innovations or knowledge developed by indigenous communities. This provision safeguards India’s traditional knowledge from commercial exploitation and preserves it as a public asset.
A landmark example illustrating this principle is Novartis AG v. Union of India (2013)22. In this case, the pharmaceutical company Novartis sought a patent for its leukemia drug Glivec (Gleevec), which was a slightly modified version of an existing drug, Imatinib (Zimmermann). Both the Indian Patent Office and the Supreme Court of India rejected the application under Section 3(d) of the Patents Act. Section 3(d) prevents ever greening, a practice whereby companies attempt to extend the life of a patent by making minor, non-substantive modifications. This decision reinforced India’s commitment to preventing monopolization of essential medicines and protecting public health23.
3.2.Constitutional Rights of India:
Although the Indian Constitution does not expressly mention “traditional knowledge,” it implicitly protects the cultural heritage, knowledge systems, and traditions of Indian communities through various constitutional provisions.
Article 21 of Indian Constitution24 guarantees the right to life and personal liberty. The Supreme Court and various High Courts have interpreted this Article broadly to include the right to live with dignity, which encompasses the protection of cultural practices and traditional knowledge of communities. In several cases, the judiciary has upheld that individuals and communities have the right to preserve and express their traditional ways of life under Article 2125.
Article 29 of Indian Constitution26 safeguards the cultural and educational rights of minorities by ensuring their right to conserve their distinct language, script, or culture. It applies to any section of citizens residing in India, whether based on religion, race, caste, or language. This provision affirms the right of communities to express, practices, and preserve their cultural heritage, folklore, and traditional knowledge without discrimination.
In Maharshi Mahesh Yogi v. State of Madhya Pradesh27, the Supreme Court recognized traditional knowledge as part of cultural rights, deserving constitutional protection.
3.3.Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
Copyright gives the author rights over their literary, dramatic, artistic and musical work. The Copyright Act protects the expression of ideas, and Article 9(2) of the TRIPS Agreement also says that only the expression of an idea can be protected, not the idea itself28.
IPR protects in two ways – positive and defensive29. In a positive way, IPR protects the creator by giving legal rights like patents or other forms of protection. In a defensive way, it stops or cancels any patent taken by someone else without the permission of the real creator, especially if it is for commercial benefit.
A recent example is the song ‘Genda Phool’ by Indian singer-rapper Badshah. The song was accused of plagiarism and copyright infringement because its lyrics were taken from a Bengali folk song written by Ratan Kahar30. The song was released without giving credit to the original writer. This became a copyright issue because Section 57(a) of the Indian Copyright Act says that the author has the moral right to be credited as the creator of the work.
- Relevent Case Judgements
4.1.Turmeric Case (Curcuma longa Linn)31:
Turmeric, known as Haldi in India, has been used both as a spice and in traditional Indian medicine for centuries, particularly in Ayurvedic and Unani systems. It possesses anti-inflammatory, wound healing, and antiseptic properties. Indigenous communities and people across various regions of India have long utilized this natural resource for therapeutic purposes.
However, in 1995, two Indian-origin researchers based at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (USA) were granted U.S. Patent No. 5,401,504 for the “use of turmeric powder in wound healing.” The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Government of India challenged this patent, arguing that the claimed invention lacked novelty, as turmeric’s healing properties had been part of traditional Indian knowledge for centuries. As evidence, they submitted ancient Sanskrit texts and documented traditional practices32.
4.2.Basmati Rice Case (Oryza Sativa Linn.)33
Agriculture is one of India’s most important economic industries34, and Basmati rice has been cultivated for centuries across the country as both an economic and cultural product. In India, Basmati rice is not only regarded as a valuable agricultural commodity but also as a symbol of cultural and traditional heritage.
In 1997, a Texas-based company, RiceTec Inc., was granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (Patent No. 5663484) on certain methods of cultivating Basmati-type rice. The Government of India objected to this, arguing that Basmati rice had been traditionally cultivated in India for centuries and formed part of its traditional knowledge35. Although the USPTO initially granted the patent, it was limited to the method of cultivation and not the rice itself. The decision was widely criticized in India, leading the Indian government to appeal, asserting that Basmati rice is an indigenous product of India and that allowing RiceTec to use the term “Basmati” for its varieties would be misleading.
- Conclusion
In conclusion, India is home to a large number of indigenous communities, each rich in cultural heritage. These traditions and practices are not relics of the past but are considered living treasures. The article highlights how over two centuries of foreign rule led to the suppression and exploitation of India’s cultural systems36. Tribal and indigenous peoples remain the last repositories of ancestral and traditional knowledge, much of which is transmitted orally. Legal protections through various Acts and conventions play a key role in safeguarding this knowledge. However, it is important to note that such protection covers only a limited portion, while a vast amount of traditional knowledge still remains unprotected and at risk of exploitation.
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