Turmeric patent dispute

Presents in short the important details of the Turmeric patent dispute case.

1. Turmeric Patent Dispute Patent Biopiracy - Devyani Joshi

2. Turmeric is a tropical herb grown in East India. Turmeric powder has a distinctive deep yellow color and bitter taste. It is used as a dye, cooking ingredient, litmus in a chemical test and for medicinal purposes.

3. Issue of a Patent A U.S. patent (no.5,401,504) on turmeric was awarded to the University of Mississippi Medical Centre, in May 1995, specifically for the “Use of turmeric in wound healing.”

4. Awaken to Intellectual property right The patent was promptly challenged by Dr. R. A. Mashelkar , as Indian scientist who has done much to awaken India to intellectual property rights issues. Director general of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) (1995-2006)

5. In India where turmeric has been used medicinally for thousands of years, concerns grew about the economically and socially damaging impact of this legal biopiracy. CSIR argues that turmeric has been used for thousands of years for healing wounds and rashes and thus its medicinal use was not a novel invention. Their claim was supported by the documentary evidence of traditional knowledge, including ancient sanskrit text and paper published in 1953 in the Journal of Indian Medical Association.

6. The case US patent 5401504 granted : May 1995 CSIR request for re-examination at USPTO : October 1996 1 st office action rejecting all patent claims : March 1997 Response by patentee Second action report Patentee’s interview with examiner Re-examination certificate issued and proceedings concluded in favor of CSIR : April 1998

7. Prevention of further cases CSIR India, is directing a creation of a massive data base that will record all the practical ideas proposed in Indian knowledge systems. Once created, it will deny any bio-pirates on the basis of prior knowledge of their use having existed.