This document discusses the challenges of protecting indigenous intellectual property rights. It begins by defining indigenous knowledge as traditional knowledge, practices, and beliefs passed down through generations in a particular community, and intellectual property rights as legal protections for creative works. Some challenges to protecting indigenous IPR include loss of knowledge due to oral traditions, lack of documentation and recognition, unauthorized commercial use without compensation, and damage to cultural heritage from development. The document argues that protecting indigenous IPR is important for equity, cultural preservation, and biodiversity conservation. It proposes increasing indigenous community participation in the IPR system through education and decision-making inclusion as part of the way forward.

1. CHALLENGES OF PROSPECTS OF
PROTECTING INDIGENOUS IPR
Presented by:
Dr Lipsa Misra
Asst Professor of Economics
BJB Autonomous college

2. Introduction
◦ Indigenous knowledge and Intellectual property rights (IPR) is a complex
issue that concerns the protection and preservation of traditional knowledge and
cultural expressions of indigenous communities.
◦ Indigenous knowledge refers to the practices, customs, and beliefs that have
been passed down through generations and are deeply rooted in the culture and
identity of these communities. It includes a wide range of knowledge, such as
traditional medicine, agriculture, and ecological practices, as well as linguistic and
cultural expressions.
◦ IPR, on the other hand, refers to the legal rights that protect the creations of the
mind, such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks. These rights are designed to
protect the rights of creators and inventors, and to encourage innovation and
creativity.

3. Defining Indigenous knowledge
◦ Indigenous knowledge refers to the traditional knowledge, practices,
and beliefs of a particular culture or community that have been passed
down through generations. This knowledge is specific to a particular
place or region and is closely tied to the environment and the way of
life of the community. Indigenous knowledge can include a wide
range of topics, such as farming techniques, medicinal practices, and
cultural traditions. It is often considered to be a valuable resource for
solving problems and addressing issues in a sustainable way.

4. Defining IPR
◦ Intellectual property rights (IPR) refer to the legal rights that
individuals and organizations have over their creative and innovative
works, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols and
designs. IPR can include patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade
secrets, among others. The purpose of IPR is to protect creators and
owners of these works, and to encourage innovation and creativity by
providing a way for individuals and organizations to benefit financially
from their work. IPR laws also help to prevent others from using
these works without permission, which can harm the creators or
owners.

5. Types of IPR
◦ Patents: As defined by US PTO patents are legal rights that are granted to inventors for their new
and useful inventions or discoveries from being sold, used or created without permission.
◦ Copyrights: These are legal rights that protect works of authorship, such as literature, music, art,
and software.
◦ Trademarks: These are legal rights that protect the names, logos, and other symbols that are used
to identify a business or product such as Mcdonald, Facebook. Patent and copyrights can expire
but Trademarks are held indefinitely.
◦ Trade Secrets: These are rights that protect confidential business information such as recipes,
marketing strategies, formulas, patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques, or
processes.
◦ Geographical Indications: These rights protect the reputation of certain products that are from
specific geographical regions and have certain characteristics, qualities or reputation due to that
origin.
◦ Industrial Designs: These rights protect the appearance of a product resulting from the features
of, in particular, the lines, contours, colors, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself.

6. Role of IPR
◦ The role of intellectual property rights (IPR) is to protect the creators and owners
of creative and innovative works, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, and
symbols and designs.
◦ IPR laws provide exclusive rights to the creators and owners of these works to control
the use and distribution of their work, and to prevent others from using it without
permission.
◦ IPR also plays a role in promoting economic growth and development. By providing
exclusive rights to creators and owners
◦ IPR laws can encourage investment in research and development, which can lead to
new products, technologies, and industries.
◦ IPR can help to promote competition, as it allows businesses to protect their unique
products and services from being copied by competitors.
◦ IPR laws also play a role in protecting consumer rights. By providing trademarks and
patents, consumers can be assured of the authenticity of a product or service.

7. Need for protecting IPR
There are several reasons why it is important to protect intellectual property rights (IPR). Some of the main reasons include:
◦ Encouraging innovation and creativity: By providing exclusive rights to creators and owners of creative and
innovative works, IPR laws can encourage individuals and organizations to invest time and resources into researching,
developing, and creating new products, technologies, and artistic works.
◦ Promoting economic growth and development: IPR laws can help to promote economic growth by encouraging
investment in research and development, and by providing a way for creators and owners to benefit financially from their
work. This can lead to the creation of new products, technologies, and industries.
◦ Protecting consumer rights: IPR laws can help to protect consumers by providing trademarks and patents, which
allow consumers to identify the source and quality of a product or service.
◦ Protecting cultural heritage: IPR laws can also be used to protect traditional knowledge, cultural expressions and
heritage, which are essential to the preservation of the cultural identity of communities.
◦ Facilitating international trade: IPR laws also play a role in promoting international trade by providing a framework
for protecting and enforcing IPR in different countries.
However, it is important that IPR laws are balanced with the public interest, such as providing access to essential medicines,
promoting access to knowledge and innovation, and protecting the rights of indigenous communities.

8. Need for protecting Indigenous knowledge
Nearly 80 percent of Indigenous population are in Asia Africa and Latin America
◦ Poverty and exclusion among indigenous people contribute to
◦ Inequities and disparity, hunger, unemployment, low wages, less access to
education, malnutrition, poor health condition , less access to health care, food
insecurity, expropriation of their lands.
◦ All these issues can be converged towards four important and critical challenges
1. Marginalization
2. Disease
3. Violence
4. Extinction

9. India has very rich heritage of knowledge and in ancient
period, everyone had such knowledge but with
development and urbanization, linkage between ancient
culture and men has been disturbed and today very few
people in urban areas are aware with such knowledge
But, some communities in villages have preserved it
For example,
The Fish Therapy for “asthama" is exclusive
knowledge of some communities of Hyderabad. Thus,
this kind of knowledge which is preserved by some
communities is considered as Traditional Knowledge

10. Challenges faced
 Loss and erosion of knowledge: Indigenous knowledge is often passed down orally from generation to
generation, which makes it vulnerable to loss and erosion.
 Changes in demographics and cultural practices can also lead to the loss of indigenous knowledge.
 Lack of documentation and recognition: Indigenous knowledge is often not documented or recognized
by mainstream scientific and academic institutions, which can make it difficult for future generations to
access and use it.
 Intellectual property rights: Indigenous knowledge is often used without proper recognition or
compensation for the communities that hold it, which can lead to conflicts over intellectual property rights.
 Damage to cultural heritage: Industrialization, urbanization, and other forms of development can lead to
the destruction of natural and cultural heritage, which can also result in the loss of indigenous knowledge.
 Biopiracy: Biopiracy is the unauthorized use of traditional knowledge for commercial gain, often by large
companies, which can lead to the exploitation of indigenous communities.
 Climate change: Climate change affects the natural environment and the traditional livelihoods of many
indigenous communities, which can lead to the erosion of indigenous knowledge.

11. Need for protection of Intellectual property
 Equity
 Preservation of trade practices
 Biodiversity conservation

12. Way Forward
 Instead of keeping an insular approach IK should be made:
1 Marketable
2 profitable
3. Sustainable
 It is imperative to have transformation to higher levels and take the indigenous knowledge
system forward :
1. Improve export potential
2. Mass consumption
3. Skill improvement
4. Reduce disparity

13.  Increase participation of indigenous communities in IPR system
 Provide education and training in IPR
 Inclusion decision making process so that their voices are heard
 work on moral rights such as how to protect their interests when information will be in
public domain.
 companies need to
1. Acknowledge the source.
2. Avoid distortions and misuse.
3. Its benefits are reaped it needs to be shared by indigenous communities.
The role of state / govt is significant to give directions to IP laws and promote IK.

14. THANK YOU