Biopiracy refers to a situation where traditional knowledge is used by others for profit, without permission from and with little or no compensation or recognition to the indigenous people. Traditional knowledge is a vast treasure of knowledge susceptible to misappropriation because of its immense potential.
Biopiracy is detrimental for the existing traditional knowledge of the developing world in the following ways:

• A patent holder unfairly appropriates indigenous knowledge and resources for earning profits. Mostly, patents are filed in the developed nations on traditional knowledge available in the developing countries.
• Many indigenous groups are at risk from biopiracy since their way of life depends on the local natural resources.
• Farmers or communities may have to sacrifice their livelihood in addition to giving up their generational expertise when traditional knowledge is patented.
• A well-established judicial system may get upset when unfair and unethical exploitation is carried out by claiming such patents.

Some of the examples of misappropriation of existing traditional knowledge of the developing world include patents filed for the use of turmeric in wound healing, fungicidal effect of neem, ‘texmati’ rice, kava grown in the Pacific, quinoa from the Andes, hoodia from Africa, etc. Thus, it is imperative for the governments in the developing countries to take adequate measures in this regard.
The steps taken by the government of India for protecting the existing traditional Indian knowledge include:

• Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL): It seeks to prevent the granting of patents for products developed utilising traditional knowledge. It holds more than 2.6 lakh medicinal formulations from the ancient texts of India, including from the areas of Unani, Ayurveda, Siddha, etc. It also provides the information in international languages like German, French, Spanish, Japanese and English.
• The Biological Diversity Act, 2002: It protects traditional knowledge, as it has the provision of requirement of prior permission by entities seeking protection of intellectual protection rights (IPR) based on knowledge/information obtained from Indian communities.
• The Patents Act, 1970: Section 3 (p) of the Patent Act, 1970, bars patent protection for invention involving use of traditional knowledge or any duplication or aggregation of such knowledge.
• TRIPS Agreement: It advocated five modes of traditional knowledge protection, which included disclosure requirements of traditional knowledge use, sui generis system of traditional knowledge protection, bilateral contract laws for traditional knowledge protection, etc. India is a party to the TRIPS Agreement.
• Convention on Biological Diversity: The 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, while recognizing the role of traditional knowledge in environmental conservation, has also raised the requirement of revamping the international intellectual-property agreements. India is a party to this Convention.

Traditional knowledge-based innovations are critical for developing countries like India, not only for the development of indigenous population but also for the country’s economic development. Though the Indian legislations, together with the TKDL, are significant and laudable advances towards the protection of traditional knowledge and the prevention of biopiracy, an enforceable international regime for the acknowledgment and protection of traditional knowledge is still needed.