Towards A Sui Generis Regime for Traditional Knowledge Protection in India: A Critical Analysis of Existing Frameworks and Empirical Realities
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Date
2025-06
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National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam
Abstract
Traditional knowledge (TK) constitutes a foundational element of India’s cultural heritage and
is instrumental in sustaining the socio-economic development of indigenous and local
communities. Despite its significance, TK remains highly vulnerable to exploitation and
susceptible to misappropriation and commercialization, both domestically and internationally,
largely due to the inadequacies and fragmentation inherent in the current intellectual property
rights (IPR) regime. The existing legal frameworks, such as the Patents Act, Biological
Diversity Act, and Geographical Indications Act, provide only partial and fragmented
safeguards for traditional knowledge. They fall short in addressing the collective nature,
dynamic evolution, and oral transmission of this knowledge, which makes it difficult to fit
traditional knowledge within the conventional intellectual property system. The present laws
make it difficult to define ownership, novelty or fit within fixed statutory terms when trying to
safeguard TK.
Description
Dissertation submitted to National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam in partial
fulfilment for award of the degree of
MASTER OF LAWS / ONE YEAR LL.M. DEGREE PROGRAMME
Supervised By
Mr. Saheb Chowdhury
Assistant Professor of Law
Submitted By
Shambhavi Karn
UID-SF0224028
Semester 3
LL.M.