Biopiracy of Indian TK was possible because the information regarding the prior existing knowledge of the products was not available to patent examiners. Though large part of our traditional medical knowledge has been meticulously documented in several Indian languages, these are not accessible to patent offices. Also, TK available orally as folk knowledge is not accepted as proof of prior art.

Hence, India has initiated the concept of Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) to record details of medicinal plants in an easily navigable computerized database. Such documentation involved conversion of TK information available in ancient manuscripts and that provided by communities to ensure that such information is not lost and is protected by showing that it is prior art. Thus, TKDL is an initiative aimed at providing easy access to traditional Indian systems such as Yoga, Ayurveda and Unani in the form of a digital encyclopedia. The details have been converted into patent application format and include description, method of preparation, claim and the usage of the bibliography. The original Sanskrit texts are translated and presented in French, German, English, Japanese, Spanish and Hindi. Through unit code technology that is language independent, local names of plants are converted into botanical names and Ayurvedic descriptions of diseases into modern medical terminology. The database, which took 200 researchers 8 years to compile by meticulously translating ancient Indian medical treatises, has a total number of 140,000 pages per language. Information retrieval is based on Traditional Knowledge Resource Classification (TKRC) and the IPC to enable easy access to patent examiners. By making the information on TKDL available via access and non-disclosure agreements to six major patent offices, India’s global biopiracy watch system is further strengthened, thus preventing the grant of erroneous patent on Indian TK.

WIPO has adopted this digital library as a model for future work on TK databases. Work on such libraries is being conducted by WIPO with a task force of representatives from China, India, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) to examine how such libraries may be integrated into existing search tools used by patent offices.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is in the process of documenting traditional medicinal knowledge belonging to indigenous communities from the Andamans.

Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are also involved in documenting TK, some of which are given below.

• Community Biodiversity Register initiated by Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions and Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
• Honey Bee Network operated by the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) has documented “green” innovations based on indigenous BD knowledge, creativity and innovation. Further, it has set up Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network in Gujarat in collaboration with the state government to develop innovations into products and then into enterprises. National multimedia database has also been launched by SRISTI. The Honey Bee Network is an extensive and possibly the world’s largest database on grassroot innovations with names and addresses of innovators, either individuals or communities. This database has entries on the traditional uses of medicinal products and the products related to agriculture, pisciculture and sericulture.

While national initiatives are essential to conserve and protect indigenous knowledge and bioresources, an international consensus such as IP protection from TRIPS is highly essential for the rights of TK holders to be claimed and enforced in other countries. TK holders must be able to take an active role in the procedure without shouldering the burden of combating those who seek to obtain patents on their knowledge.