Patent Your Heritage

Online libraries in the making will soon document and patent the traditional and biological heritage that is being exploited by pharmaceutical companies in the industrialized world. India is leading the crusade against the misappropriation of their medicinal patrimony by shielding it instead of trying to take it back from foreigners who patented it. This online library will provide a translation of ancient Indian treatments, preventing the further extraction of their traditional medicine legacy. The United Nations has created a website that serves a similar purpose for information from all over the world. Protecting their patrimony at home will probably be more effective (and less costly) than going to court and claiming property rights over medical procedures that have already been misappropriated by others. – YaleGlobal

Patent Your Heritage

Tina Rosenberg
Sunday, December 15, 2002

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