Kerala submits patent data on 966 herbs

EPP News Bureau - Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala has furnished a defensive patenting database on 966 Ayurveda herbs to Centre’s WTO desk. The data was dove-tailed in tune with the norms of the Geographical Indicator Act, according to chief minister Oommen Chandy. Chandy was asked on the Assembly floor about the Kerala plant material which had faced patent challenges at international fora.

He said there was no official information on any such violations. However, Kerala patent cell had been active from July 7, 2003 and had passed on the relevant information to Centre on December 2005, he said. Since patents were filed by private individuals or institutions, the state government had no recourse to information on the number of patents filed from Kerala.

“At the same time, it would be ‘defensive patents’ that Kerala Ayurveda herbs would push for, Chandy said. Documentation may serve only defensive purpose, but the database was transferred to Centre after the state patent cell classified and chronicled Ayurvedic modes of treatment, equipment used and the herbal formulations used.