Traditional Knowledge Digital Library
Also called: TKDL · Topic: International Trade Policy, WTO and Intellectual Property · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), set up in 2001, is a database run jointly by CSIR and the Ministry of AYUSH. It records India's traditional medical knowledge, such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Yoga formulations, which mostly sits in old texts in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian or Tamil. It puts this knowledge into languages and a format that patent examiners abroad can search. It does not grant any rights. Its job is to give patent offices prior art, meaning proof that an idea was already publicly known, so they can refuse patents on things that are not new. This defends India against biopiracy, which is when someone takes or patents biological resources or traditional knowledge without consent or sharing the benefits.
Example
In 1997 the US patent office cancelled a US patent on using turmeric to heal wounds, but only after CSIR challenged it. Later the European patent office cancelled a neem fungicide patent (2000, upheld 2005). Both fights took years and cost a lot. TKDL lets examiners find the old Indian texts before they grant such a patent, so India does not have to fight it afterwards.
Don't confuse with
- Access and benefit sharing (ABS): ABS, under the Biological Diversity Act 2002 and the Nagoya Protocol, makes anyone who uses genetic resources or traditional knowledge get prior consent and share the benefits. TKDL only stops wrongful patents. It does not get benefits back to communities.
- Geographical indication (GI): A GI is a legal right over a product linked to a place, such as Darjeeling Tea. TKDL creates no right of ownership at all.