Protection of traditional knowledge in India by sui generis laws of geographic indications and the Protection of Traditional Knowledge Bill, 2022

Abstract

This research paper explores the potential of protecting Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCE) under the modern Intellectual Property Law Regime with special reference to Geographical Indications (GI). It also highlights the process of registering GI under the Indian GI legislation with special regard to ancestral knowledge. The paper also highlights the limitations of GI protection concerning protecting TK/TCE as a whole. Protecting TK has always been a challenge under the modern legal system, and this limitation has irretrievably damaged this knowledge base. Efforts have been made to preserve and protect TK through IPR, but this approach achieved very limited success. The absence of TK protection as a whole by TRIPS has left a sui generis approach to protecting TK. The proposed Protection of TK Bill 2022 could be criticised at length, including the absence of synchronisation between Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) safeguards, including GI as a mode of protecting TK has also been noticed. This research paper identifies some of the TK that has been protected under the GI Act in India encourages the indigenous and tribal peoples to explore the limited potential of GI protection to their ancestral knowledge. It also assists the legislature in reconsidering certain aspects of the Protection of the TK Bill, 2022.