Biopiracy

Piracy means unauthorized publication or reproduction of anothers material or to use someone’s work illegally.
Many organisations and MNCs exploit and/or patent biological resources or indigenous knowledge of farmers, local health practitioners and
traditional communities without proper authorisation; this is known as biopiracy.
Intellectual Property Right (IPR) claims by the formal sector over the work of the informal constitutes biopiracy.

Three aspects of biopiracy are :

• Intellectual Piracy : makes a false claim to novelty and invention , even though the knowledge has evolved from ancient times.
• Resource Piracy : divests scarce biological products to monopoly control of corporations thus depriving communities and indigeneous practitioners.
• Economic Piracy : creates market monopolies and excludes original innovators from their rightful share to local, national and international markets.

Example of Biopiracy

Patenting of Neem

Neem, Azadirachta indica, used by Indians in a variety of ways since time immemorial; shared the knowledge of properties of neem with the entire world.
USDA and an American MNC W.R.Grace pirated this knowledge in early 90’s and sought a patent (No.0426257B1) from the European Patent Office(EPO) on the “method for controlling on plants by the aid of a hydrophobic extracted neem oil.”
Patenting of fungicidal properties of neem; an example of biopiracy.
An American university patented the healing properties of turmeric powder, which was known to Indians since ancient times.
In 1997 the US Patent and Trademark office (USPTO) granted a patent (No.5663484) to a Texas based Rice Tec Inc for “Basmati rice line and grains ”. However, after facing people’s agitation, the firm in March 2001 has rejected all except 3 claims .
A West African plant, Pentadiplandra brazzeana, is a source of protein called brazzein, 20 times as sweet as sugar; is a low calorie sweetener. Gene encoding brazzein has been isolated, sequenced and patented in USA. This gene would be transferred to maize and expressed in kernels which will then be used for its extraction. This could have serious implications for sugar exporting countries.