Traditional Knowledge Docketing System (TKDS) for protecting rights of indigenous communities

Abstract

Protection of Traditional Knowledge (TK) has been a challenging issue for many decades owing to its dynamic nature, lack of definition for TK and its completeness, difficulty in establishing ownership and Geographical origin of TK and the conflicts between various protection schemes being formulated around the world. The author highlights Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) and its role as a prior art to prevent patenting. The author also cautions against classifying Traditional Knowledge under Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and creation of statutory registrable rights on TK. Instead, the author proposes the creation of a Traditional Knowledge Docketing System (TKDS) to indicate the location at which the knowledge is available, the community that possesses the traditional knowledge, a short description of the nature of TK and community protocol, if any. One of the major observations made by the author is the lessons learned from IPR Policy of Kerala, 2008.