Traditional Knowledge Digital Library : A 'Silver Bullet' in the War Against Biopiracy

19 Pages Posted: 27 Dec 2017 Last revised: 28 Dec 2017

See all articles by Seemantani Sharma

Seemantani Sharma

Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney

Date Written: December 13, 2017

Abstract

India has long been a victim of the emotionally expulsive wrong of biopiracy at the behest of Western corporations. Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), a digital repository of traditional medicinal knowledge was a reaction to this act of “unjust enrichment”. While there is ample scholarly discourse on the biopiracy of Indian traditional knowledge (TK), there is scant literature critically evaluating TKDL as a tool for the protection of TK. This paper attempts to highlight some of the defects and inadequacies pervading TKDL, which inhibits its characterisation as a “silver bullet” in the war against biopiracy. Though laudatory, TKDL with its bona fide objective of preventing biopiracy of Indian TK has unfortunately succumbed to its inherent flaws, deterring its characterisation as a “silver bullet” in the war against biopiracy. Even if these inadequacies are addressed, it will not prove to be a miraculous tool in the crusade against ‘biocolonialism’; for there is wide international consensus that defensive protection strategies play a miniscule role in the wider governance of traditional knowledge.

Keywords: Biopiracy, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL)

Suggested Citation

Sharma, Seemantani, Traditional Knowledge Digital Library : A 'Silver Bullet' in the War Against Biopiracy (December 13, 2017). John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law, Vol. 17, 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3091530

Seemantani Sharma (Contact Author)

Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney ( email )

15 Broadway, Ultimo
PO Box 123
Sydney, NSW 2007
Australia

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