Chronicle Pharmabiz in its edition dated January 29 published a report relating to the blatant infringement of an Indian patent on Jeevani by the US-based company, Nutriscience Innovations. The US company based in New York, a global supplier of herbal drugs, is found to have registered Jeevani under the US Trademark Rules for some time and the product is being freely sold in the US market without the knowledge of TBGRI (Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute), Thiruvananthapuram. Jeevani is probably the first herbal compound developed by TBGRI after eight years of research and with the participation of tribal communities of Kerala. The compound having a 15 percent of Aarogyapacha content, Aswagandha and some other ingredients was scientifically validated and was clinically tried. The product was patented in 1995 by TBGRI and was subsequently licensed out to Arya Vaidya Pharmacy of Coimbatore for manufacturing and marketing for a period of seven years. In 2002,the UN Environment Programme and the World Trade Organisation even accepted the Kerala model on Jeevani as a global model in benefit sharing and recognizing intellectual property rights of indigenous people in accordance with the guidelines of the UN Convention on Biodiversity Treaty.
What is surprising here is the fact that Nutriscience has been sourcing Jeevani in bulk quantities from Arya Vaidya Pharmacy until two years ago. How is that both Arya Vaidya Pharmacy and TBGRI did not suspect any foul play in such imports is something not very clear. One lapse on the part of TBGRI is that it failed to register Jeevani as a trademark in the US and European markets. Violation of the patent right on Jeevani by Nutriscience is a matter of serious concern not only for India but for all the developing countries. Such aggression on the intellectual properties of poor countries by the corporations of rich nations ridicules the whole concept of intellectual property rights. The European and US governments should deal with such unethical practices of their corporations with some amount of responsibility. Gene Campaign, the New Delhi based NGO was the first organization to openly come against this piracy by describing the Nutriscience' act as a deliberate act of theft and misappropriation. The NGO has also called for an international agreement against biopiracy to protect the IPR rights of poor and developing countries. Without such an agreement, these countries will have to constantly fight to protect their patent rights in the US and European courts at unaffordable costs. At the same time, the Indian government should also take up the matter immediately with WTO and other international forums.