LEGAL PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE IN INDIA

Abstract

Traditional knowledge is a vast repository of information that has been passed down through generations by indigenous and local peoples all over the world. The indigenous and local peoples who are the custodians of the TK have preserved and conserved the knowledge for thousands of years. Traditional knowledge and biodiversity are rich in India, and both are vital to health, medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology. The expanding importance of IP in the global economy, on the other hand, poses a persistent challenge to TK. One of the most visible effects of globalisation on international knowledge is the transition of local and traditional knowledge into global knowledge, which does not in and of itself constitute a threat to traditional and indigenous knowledge. However, certain western countries claiming monopoly rights over such knowledge while failing to recognise the holders of such information is undeniably a direct threat to humanity in general and traditional knowledge holders in particular. The transmission of ideas from one generation to the next is what traditional knowledge is all about. Traditional knowledge can be used in a range of fields, including agriculture, natural resource management, and medicine. Songs, stories, dancing methods, beliefs, practises, and rituals, among other things, are examples.