[SPICY IP] SpicyIP Tidbits: Patents, TKDL and our 'holy cows'

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Prashant Reddy

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Mar 6, 2012, 2:50:07 AM3/6/12

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Kounteya Sinha of the Times of India has recently reported on yet another success story of the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). I’m a little amused at the title though, which claims that 'India foils Swiss MNC’s bio-piracy bid’. The patent application in question, which was filed by Nestec S.A. before the European Patent Office (EPO) was for the use of ‘cow-milk’ as a laxative in the treatment of constipation. How is this ‘bio-piracy’? Nestec probably used milk from Swiss cows and as far as I know India is yet to claim the mantle of protectors of the world’s cows. ‘Bio-piracy’ is when they plunder milk from India’s cows. The correct title should have been ‘India foils Swiss MNC’s bid to patent Traditional Knowledge’. Image from here.

In any case, getting back to the crux of the story, the evidence to strike down the European Patent application was supplied by India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). The website of the TKDL provides some interesting statistics on the usage of the TKDL by foreign patent offices to deny patent applications. This is because a clause in the ‘access agreements’ which requires foreign patent offices to provide such statistics. Surprisingly, the TKDL website does not have any such statistics for the Indian Patent Office!

The EPO seems to be the most active in using the TKDL and has denied a total of 61 patent applications on the basis of evidence from the TKDL. A further 16 applications were modified on the basis of TKDL evidence. The Canadian follow with a total of 12 patent applications. Surprisingly the USPTO hardly seems to be using the TKDL. I’m not sure whether they are actually not using the TKDL or whether they are just not giving the TKDL the latest updated statistics of the usage of the library.