Question

Explain any three examples of biopiracy.

Answer 1

1. Patenting of Neem (Azadirachta indica): The people of India in a variety of ways have used neem, since time immemorial. Indians have shared the knowledge of the properties of the neem with the entire world. Pirating this knowledge, the USDA and an American MNC W.R. Grace in the early 90s sought a patent from the European Patent Office (EPO) on the “method for controlling on plants by the aid of hydrophobic extracted neem oil.” The patenting of the fungicidal properties of Neem was an example of biopiracy.
2. Patenting of Basmati: Basmati is a long-grained, aromatic variety of rice indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. In 1997 the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted a patent to a Texas based American company Rice Tec Inc for “Basmati rice line and grains” having trade name Texmati. The patent application was based on 20 very broad claims on having “invented” the said rice. Due to people's movement against Rice Tec in March 2001, the USPTO has rejected all the claims.
3. Haldi (Turmeric) Biopiracy: Two American researchers of Indian origin of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, put a claim to the US Patent and Trademark Office, maintaining that they had discovered haldi's healing properties.