This document discusses a 1995 patent granted to two researchers for the use of turmeric in wound healing. The Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research challenged the patent, arguing it was based on traditional Indian knowledge. They provided evidence that turmeric had long been used for wound healing in India. The US Patent and Trademark Office ultimately withdrew the patent in 1997 after this prior art was presented. The case highlighted the need for better documentation of traditional Indian knowledge and strengthened intellectual property protections in India.

1. Use ofTurmeric inWound
Healing: A Bio-Patent Case
Study
Shreejit Saha (607)
Ishan Bose (633)
Liana Mukherjee (621)
Sohini Chattopadhyay (643)
St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata
Department of Microbiology
Bachelor’s of Science

2. What isTurmeric?
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a
flowering plant of the ginger family,
Zingiberaceae, the roots of which are
traditionally used in cooking and other
domestic purposes.

3. Science Behind Curcumin
• Curcumin is a yellow
pigment found primarily in
turmeric, it is a polyphenol
that has significant
antineoplastic, antioxidant,
antibacterial and anti-
inflammatory properties.

4. Case Study
• The turmeric patent was granted in 1995 to two researchers, Soman K. Das and Harihar Kohli of the
University of Mississippi Medical Centre by the US Patent and the Trademark Office (USPTO).
(Patent Application No. 5401540 - University of Mississippi, Medical Centre for the ‘Use of Turmeric in
Wound Healing’)
• Their six patent claims covered the oral and topical use of turmeric powder to heal surgical wounds
and ulcers.
• However, the Indian Scientists highly objected to how India might be losing its Traditional Knowledge
(TK) to foreign companies who did not pay them appropriate recompense.
• Traditional Knowledge per se is the knowledge that has ancient roots and is often informal and oral
and is not protected by conventional intellectual property protection systems.

5. Case Study
• Therefore, in October 1996, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR), filed a re-examination claim with the USPTO for the invalidation of
the Patent.
• The PTO withdrew the patent on 13 August 1997, after a year-long legal
battle with CSIR.

6. Case Study: Results
• The US Patent Office grants a patent on the basis of a process or product
being novel, non-obvious and having industrial applications.
• To aid its case, the CSIR had to produce, what is known as, "prior-art" in the
public domain before the date of the claimed invention.

7. Significance
• The turmeric case was the first of its kind as this was the first time that a move in the United
States to patent a traditional remedy from the developing world had been successfully
overturned.
• This case study proved three main things:
o India required better documentation on the subject.
o India needed to revamp its patent offices so that they can be comparable to US Patent offices.
o Scientists also needed to focus on building scientific data on many of these herbal cures.

8. The Current Acts
• The Copyright Act, 1957
• The Patents Act, 1970 (as amended in 2005)
• The Trademarks Act, 1999

9. References
 https://www.slideshare.net/SiddharthSingh124/turmeric-patent-case-80617684
 https://patents.google.com/patent/US5401504A/en
 http://mandalaprojects.com/giant-project/turmeric.html
 https://spicyip.com/2017/03/spicyip-fellowship-2017-18-the-turmeric-battle.html
 http://lifeintelect.com/blog/2013/10/24/traditional-knowledge-and-intellectual-property-case-of-
turmeric/
 https://www.mondaq.com/india/patent/586384/traditional-knowledge-and-patent-issues-an-
overview-of-turmeric-basmati-neem-cases

10. THANKYOU!