Question

In 1997, an American company got patent rights on basmati rice through the U.S. patent and trademark office. Variety of basmati had actually been derived from Indian farmer's varieties. If so, what is biopiracy?

Answer 1

In 1997, the American company got patent rights on basmati rice (which has its origin in India) through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This is a classical example of biopiracy.

Biopiracy is the illegal use of a product obtained from another area without compensating in terms of money or any other forms. It is done with a selfish motive. It can also be done with respect to research work which includes obtaining writing material from a research going on in some other part of the world. Traditional knowledge about medicines or certain medicinal herbs is exploited to obtain royalty through patents. Certain products like chemicals, biomolecules, drugs and genes may already be discovered by certain group. The right may be obtained from these products or these may be produced or sold to obtain money without the consent of the owner or the originating land of the product.