India and Australia have signed an agreement to strengthen the protection of traditional knowledge by providing IP Australia access to India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (CSIR-TKDL).
The agreement was signed during the 3rd India–Australia Annual Summit in Melbourne in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Under the pact, IP Australia will use the TKDL database while examining patent applications to identify existing traditional knowledge and prevent wrongful patent claims on India’s documented heritage.
Established in 2001 by CSIR and the Ministry of AYUSH, CSIR-TKDL is the world’s first database for defensive protection of traditional knowledge. It contains over 5.2 lakh formulations and practices from Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Yoga in five international languages.
With this agreement, 18 global patent offices now have access to the TKDL database. The initiative has helped challenge over 375 patent applications worldwide by providing evidence of existing traditional knowledge.
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