India grants Brazil access to Traditional Knowledge Digital Library

India has signed a cooperation agreement with Brazil, granting it access to the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, an online repository of India's traditional medicinal systems, officials said on Monday. The agreement will enable the Brazilian Patent Office access to the database for use during patent examination and grant procedures, while helping India strengthen its global efforts to prevent biopiracy and misappropriation of traditional knowledge. The pact was signed on February 21 during the recent visit of Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and will be implemented under the guidance of the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), Brazil, and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, an official said. Established in 2001, the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) aims to prevent the erroneous grant of patents on Indian traditional knowledge and to safeguard the country's knowledge heritage from misappropriation. Currently, the database contains more than 5.2 lakh formulations and practices drawn from Indian systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, and Yoga, sourced from traditional texts, officials added. ''Access to TKDL is provided to patent offices through non-disclosure agreements… With the inclusion of INPI, Brazil, the number of patent offices worldwide with access to the TKDL has risen to eighteen,'' they said.