Indian medicinal plant exporters are in the process of grouping together to fight the alleged attempts of Sabinsa Corporation, a New Jersey based company, to monopolise the export of certain medicinal plant extracts to the United States by attempting to control it through the patent rights it has earned for the products in the US.

The exporters complain that Sabinsa has secured patents for medicinal plant extracts, the properties of which are being mentioned in the ayurveda texts and are also being used for medicinal purposes in the country since centuries. They point out that the company has succeeded in getting US patents for Bioperine, its branded piperine. This is nothing but extract of black pepper, for usages which are already known and practiced in the country for long time. The company claims that the property of piperine as a nutrient bioavailability enhancer, was novel and hence the patent. Similarly, is the case of Forslean, a branded coleus forskohlii extract, which carries a US patent on its use of promoting lean body mass and treating mood-disorder.

Exporters lament that the company has filed patent applications for several such known properties of Indian medicinal herbs used in ayurvedic treatment.

What have irked the exporters more are the recent attempts of Sabinsa to prevent the exports of these “patented” products to the US by going for legal action against the agencies that were into the import of such medicinal extracts from India. As Sabinsa website claims, it has already won patent infringement lawsuit against such companies who are infringing the “rights” of Sabinsa. The company website (http://www.sabinsa.com/news/nr111002.htm) says that it won a suit against Indfrag Ltd. of India for infringement of Sabinsa's US Patent # 5,804,596 entitled "Method of Preparing a Forskolin Composition from Forskohlin Extract and Use of Forskohlin for Promoting Lean Body Mass and Treating Mood Disorders".

According to a Bangalore based exporter of coleus forskohlii extract, his stocks have been sent back from US by the importer their as he didn't have the resources to fight Sabinsa patent in US courts. The exporters are also worried about the notices, apparently sent by Sabinsa not to continue exports of its patented products or face patent infringement charges. It is known that all the products, for which Sabinsa claims patent rights, were part of Indian exports years before the patents were allowed.

Though the exporters and the Patents experts in the country are sure to foil the attempts of the US based company to monopolize the exports of certain herbal extracts, they don't have the resources to fight the patent on their own. On conditions of anonymity, a New Delhi based exporter said that he doesn't want to spoil his business fortunes by clashing with bigger players. The exporters are hoping the central government to act upon the matter and reverse the trend of the known medicinal uses of Indian medicinal plants getting patented in foreign countries. While coleus forskohlii is not considered as a major foreign exchange earner, the patents on the extracts of black pepper is much serious in dimension.

The exporters have formally represented their woes before the Basic Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics Export Promotion Council (Chemexcil) and are hoping to involve all concerned ministries to take up the matter at the highest level.

Interestingly, Sabinsa, though a US based company, has deep rooted Indian connections. The company is headed by Dr. Muhammed Majeed, a non-resident Indian. Sabinsa has its research and manufacturing arm in Bangalore. The R&D arm, Sami Labs Limited was in news recently for having successfully set up a new Supercritical Fluid (CO2) Extraction facility on a commercial scale on technology developed by IIT, Bombay. IIT Bombay had developed this technology under the Govt. of India's 'Technology Mission'.