A patent on grandmother’s remedy
In March 1995 the US Patent Office granted the University of Mississippi Medical Center a patent for using turmeric powder to help wounds heal. In Indian homes this had been done for generations: a pinch of manjal on a cut.
The challenge
India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) filed an objection. Its lawyers showed that turmeric’s use in healing wounds was part of India’s traditional knowledge, long known and used, so it could not be a new invention. On 13 August 1997 the patent was revoked. CSIR had spent about ₹5 lakh.
CSIR’s chief, R. A. Mashelkar, said it appeared to be the first time a developing country had successfully challenged a US patent on its traditional knowledge.
Traditional knowledge cannot be taken away, if the case is argued well.
Erode protects its own name
The lesson was clear: if you do not protect what is yours, someone else may claim it. The Erode Turmeric Merchants Association applied for a geographical indication, and after an eight-year process, in March 2019, “Erode turmeric” became a GI. Only turmeric from this region may now be sold under that name.
Points for a finance reader
- Write down what you know. The patent fell because India could show the knowledge was old. Know-how nobody has recorded is easier for someone else to claim.
- Protection costs little next to loss. ₹5 lakh defended a remedy used by crores of people.
- A name is an asset. A GI tag lets a region charge for its reputation.