TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE DIGITAL LIBRARY (TKDL)

NEWS: The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), Brazil and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)àentered into a cooperation arrangement on access to the TKDL.

ABOUT

• Established in – 2001.
• It is a first-of-its-kind database of prior art on Indian traditional knowledge.
• Aims to prevent the erroneous grant of patents on Indian traditional knowledge and to safeguard the country’s knowledge heritage
• Currently contains information on formulations and practices drawn from Indian systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa Rigpa, as well as Yoga
• The database is available in 5 international languages—English, German, French, Japanese and Spanish
• With the inclusion of INPI, Brazil, the number of patent offices worldwide with access to the TKDL rises to 18.

Significance

• Strengthen India’s global efforts to prevent biopiracy and misappropriation of traditional knowledge.
• Supports Brazil in improving the quality and efficiency of its patent examination process