From Indigenous Heritage to Intellectual Property: A Comparative Study of Traditional Knowledge Protection in India and Globally

Abstract

Traditional Knowledge (TK), embedded in the cultural heritage, practices, and innovations of indigenous and local communities, has increasingly attracted global attention due to its economic, medicinal, agricultural, and environmental value. However, the conventional intellectual property rights (IPR) framework, originally designed to protect individual and commercially driven innovations, often fails to adequately safeguard the collective, intergenerational, and dynamic nature of traditional knowledge. This research article undertakes a comparative legal study of the protection of traditional knowledge in India and at the global level, critically examining the evolution from community-based heritage systems to formal intellectual property-oriented mechanisms. The paper analyses India’s sui generis and legislative responses, including the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001, the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), and judicial interventions addressing bio-piracy and misappropriation. These are evaluated alongside international and regional frameworks such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing, the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Intergovernmental Committee (WIPO-IGC) negotiations, UNESCO conventions, and selected national models from jurisdictions such as Peru, South Africa, and Australia. Through doctrinal and comparative analysis, the article explores key challenges in traditional knowledge governance, including definitional ambiguities, community consent, equitable benefit-sharing, cross-border enforcement, & tension between customary laws and formal intellectual property regimes. It argues that while global efforts increasingly recognize the need to protect traditional knowledge, existing mechanisms remain fragmented and inadequately aligned with indigenous worldviews and collective ownership structures.