India's Attempt to Reconcile Diversity and Intellectual Property Issues

Abstract

For developing countries, the concept of diversity holds great promises not least because of the protection it promises for the fast depleting natural resources leading to catastrophic effect on the environment. The concept of diversity also holds great promises from a trade perspective. In reality, appropriate protection of diversity can be the solution to balance the effects of the trade regime to achieve sustainable development. The term sustainable development, as opposed to rapid pockets of development, embodies great promises for the socio-political framework in poorer nations, apart from the obvious benefit of sustainability. In fact, sustainable development, if it ensues, would complete the trade regime‘s agenda by supplying the missing piece of the puzzle. From a practical standpoint, at the very basic level, sustainable development promises a level of inclusiveness, which can facilitate addressing broader national issues. Similarly, sustainable development is compatible with the larger trade agenda by promising to include newer forms of trading capital – such as biodiversity for biotechnology or traditional knowledge for pharmaceutical innovation - hitherto excluded from the trade regime. The trade regime which traditionally deals with what is typically western properties like goods, services, patents and investments, can, in turn, benefit from the dynamism resulting from say, trade in biodiversity and traditional knowledge. This paper will discuss the issues that impact biodiversity protection as a result of its interaction with the trade regime. Particularly, this paper will focus on India and the issues it faces from embracing the biodiversity and the trade regime.