The Indian government has granted the European Patent Office (EPO) access to its Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). Loaded with ancient medical knowledge, the online database contains translations of manuscripts and textbooks in five languages, including English. Examiners at the EPO will use the TKDL to evaluate patent applications and to better treat attempts to patent traditional knowledge as 'new' inventions.
The cooperation between India and the EPO is projected to benefit both parties. It helps protect India's traditional knowledge from misappropriation and gives the EPO additional relevant information for granting properly defined patents. For the first time in history, the TKDL will make traditional Indian medical texts available in English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish. It is also the first time that these texts - many of them old manuscripts written in Hindi, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Urdu and other languages - can be accessed in a digital, searchable format.
Development of the TKDL started in 1999 as a joint project between five Indian government organisations, including the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources. The main aim of the TKDL is to prevent unjustified patenting of traditional knowledge that is already being used in the public domain in India. Such public knowledge constitutes 'prior art', according to EPO regulations. As such, it cannot be patented unless the applicants can demonstrate significant inventive or new improvements.
EPO examiners have been able to access the TKDL since February 2, 2009. Patent examiners will now be able to compare patent applications to existing traditional knowledge documented in this new source. Examiners can limit the scope of a patent or reject it altogether before it is granted. This can prevent lengthy and costly opposition procedures.
Various other countries have also granted the EPO access to traditional knowledge databases. In 2008, the Chinese Patent Office opened its 32000-entry database on traditional Chinese medicine to the EPO.
