I. Identification

1. The Issue

Turmeric is a tropical herb grown in East India, and the powdered product made from the rhizomes of its flowers has several popular uses worldwide. Turmeric powder, which has a distinctive deep yellow color and bitter taste, is used as a dye, a cooking ingredient, and a litmus in a chemical test, and has medicinal uses as well. In the mid-1990s, this product became the subject of a patent dispute with important ramifications for international trade law. A U.S. patent on turmeric was awareded to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1995, specifically for the "use of turmeric in wound healing." This patent also granted them the exclusive right to sell and distribute turmeric.[1] Two years later, a complaint was filed by India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, which challenged the novelty of the University's "discovery," and the U.S. patent office investigated the validity of this patent. In India, where turmeric has been used medicinally for thousands of years, concerns grew about the economically and socially damaging impact of this legal "biopiracy." In 1997, the patent was revoked. But for two years the patent on turmeric had stood, although the process was non-novel and had in fact been traditionally practiced in India for thousands of years, as was eventually proven by ancient Sanskrit writings that documented turmeric’s extensive and varied use throughout India’s history. Many developing countries are concerned that the globalization of intellectual property rights under the WTO's TRIPs agreement, and the negative consequences it has for traditional indigenous knowledge and biodiversity.

Short of dismantling TRIPs, however, one possible solution to the problem of biopiracy in certain cases like turmeric would be for countries to claim protection for indigenous products and processes as geographic indications. GIs are defined in the TRIPS agreement as "indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin." India and other developing countries are already constructing databases of indigenous knowledge to guard against biopiracy. Indigenous products and processes identified in these databases could be further protected if the case for geographic indication could be made. For these, not only would biopiracy be prevented, but developing countries could start profiting from the export of such knowledge and products.

2. Description

This case study will investigate two interrelated issues highlighted by the turmeric dispute. First, there is the specific issue of whether the use of turmeric in wound healing should have qualified as a patentable U.S. product - whether it meets the legal criteria of "Novelty, Non-Obviousness, and Utility" - and what India's rights should be with regard to trading the herb bilaterally.  There are alleged weaknesses in U.S. patent law that discriminate against developing countries by failing to recognize products like turmeric as "non-novel," despite the fact that this medicinal plant and other traditional agro-chemicals have been used in healing for thousands of years.

Secondly, there is the problem of international intellectual property rights law.  World Trade Organization rules largely mimic and support the U.S.-style patent system, and as a result, they reflect the same biases and pose a threat to the sanctity of indigenous knowledge.  The WTO TRIPs agreement, specifically, has led to a cry for reform from developing countries that consider this "biopiracy" a threat to their economies and their biodiversity. Some activists charge that the WTO should retreat entirely from intellectual property rights enforcement. Reform advocates consider it the WTO's duty to protect indigenous knowledge from foreign patents, so that the dispute process can be accessible and universal. Scientists and academics in India have been some of the most vocal critics of the WTO's brand of intellectual property rights enforcement.  As an ecologically biodiverse country struggling to emerge from poverty by integrating itself in the world's trade regime, India has much to be gained from such reform, as it would likely lead to the revocation of U.S. patents on many other Indian products (like Neem, Amla, Jar Amla, Anar, Salai, Dudhi, Gulmendhi, Bagbherenda, Karela, Rangoon-ki-bel, Erand, Vilayetishisham, Chamkura).[2] Developing countries increasingly sees biopiracy as a significant issue that urgently needs to be addressed. Since many of these countries are havens of biodiversity and rely economically on their ability to export indigenous products and processes, they see the rising importance of protecting their traditional knowledge from unjustifiable foreign patenting. After all, as Suvira Srivastava quips, “Knowledge is the global currency for the 21st century.”[3]

4. Author and Date:

Alyson Slack, December 2004

II. Legal Clusters

6. Forum and Scope:

Forum: U.S. Government

Scope: UNILATERAL

7. Decision Breadth:

Number of Parties Affected: 1

The only sovereign state affected in the case was the United States, whose courts presided over the legal proceedings and whose Patent Office was forced to revoke the turmeric patent. India as a state was not involved, though its Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, which is partly government-funded, was responsible for challenging the U.S. patent. In another sense, citizens of all WTO member countries were legally affected by the decision in that they regained respect to their rights to use turmeric in wound healing without paying royalties in some form to the University of Mississipi Medical Center, as they would have been required to do under the TRIPs agreement.

8. Legal Standing:

Standing: LAW

III. Geographic Clusters

9. Geographic Locations

a. Geographic Domain: Asia

b. Geographic Site: South Asia

c. Geographic Impact: USA

Note: The Geographic Impact location is listed as USA because the court ruling (law) took place there. However, to the extent that WTO member nations are bound by the TRIPs agreement, those countries too are legally affected by the ruling against the U.S. Patent Office. As such, Indian citizens represent the group of people most impacted by the outcome of the dispute, because of their frequent traditional use of turmeric in wound healing.

10. Sub-National Factors: No

11. Type of Habitat:

Habitat Type: (1) TROPICAL

This habitat type refers to southern India, a hotspot of biodiversity where turmeric is a large cash-crop.

IV. Trade Clusters

12. Type of Measure:

Type of Measure: INTELLECTUALL PROPERTY; LICENSE

13. Direct v. Indirect Impacts:

Impact: DIRECT

Patents have a direct impact on the trade of knowledge and ideas.

14. Relation of Trade Measure to Environmental Impact

a. Directly Related to Product: Yes, turmeric.

b. Indirectly Related to Product: No

c. Not Related to Product: No

d. Related to Process: Yes, intellectual property

15. Trade Product Identification: Turmeric

16. Economic Data

The most pertinent economic data to this case is an estimate of the cost to developing countries of TRIPs enactment, and this chart was presented in a previous section (12: Type of Measure). Data on the volume of India's spice trade and its turmeric exports to the United States, are presented under the next section (17: Impact of Trade Restriction).

17. Impact of Trade Restriction: High

Although this study is part of the Trade and Environment Database, raw import and export data are not integral statistics for the case, because trade in turmeric itself would not have been affected by the patent. At issue is the trade of knowledge, and the threat that biopiracy poses to the free flow and use of non-novel ideas. Therefore, the trade data listed below is only intended to give an idea of the importance of spice and agricultural production in India's economy.

Over the span of the years for which data is provided (1991-2000), agricultural exports accounted for an annual average of nearly 18% of India's total exports. Spice exports, in turn, averaged an annual 4.6% of agricultural exports over the same period. India is a leading exporter of spices because of its culture and its climate.

Specific trade data is available for sales of turmeric from India to the United States. In 2003, the customs value of this trade was USD$2,973,704.

As of 2004, India is a dominant player in the world's spice trade, accounting for 46% of trade volume and 27% of trade value. From these numbers, it is clear that a developing country like India needs to be able to rely upon the income it can generate from its biodiversity. This especially includes stopping the theft of indigenous plant-based knowledge.

18. Industry Sector: Pharmaceutical

Turmeric has medical uses, as indicated in this case study, but the product is best classified in the agricultural sector. It is used in cooking as well, and therefore could easily be classified under the Standard Industrial Code FOOD, but PHARMACEUTICAL has been indicated because this study concerns a medical use of turmeric.

19. Exporters and Importers:

The leading countries in turmeric trade are listed below.

V. Environment Clusters

20. Environmental Problem Type: Intellectual property and biodiversity

Developing countries increasingly sees biopiracy as a significant issue that urgently needs to be addressed. Since many of these countries are havens of biodiversity and rely economically on their ability to export indigenous products and processes, they see the rising importance of protecting their traditional knowledge from unjustifiable foreign patenting. After all, as Suvira Srivastava quips, "Knowledge is the global currency for the 21st century."
India, as a biodiversity hotspot, is taking a leading role it committing to the protection of its knowledge base. This is evidenced by the government's creation of the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), which documents all practices of traditional treatment. The goal of this ambitious project is to preclude these treatments from being patented as novel ideas.

21. Name, Type, and Diversity of Species

Name: Turmeric (Latin: Curcuma longa, part of the Zingiberaceae family)

Type: Herb/Spice

22. Resource Impact and Effect:

High and regulatory

23. Urgency and Lifetime:

Low, and thousands of years.

24. Substitutes: Like spices (for some purposes, excluding turmeric's medical uses).

VI. Other Factors

26. Trans-Boundary Issues: No

28. Relevant Literature

2. Shiva, Vandana. “The turmeric patent is just the first step in stopping biopiracy.” Third World Network, No. 86, October 1997.

3. Srivastava, Suvira. “Biopirates Beware!” TerraGreen. 15 March 2002. http://www.teri.res.in/teriin/terragreen/issue8/news.htm accessed 27 Sept 2004.

4. http://www.etcgroup.org/ (formerly RAFI).

5. Weisbrot, Mark, and Baker, Dean. "The Relative Impact of Trade Liberalization on Developing Countries." Center for Economic and Policy Research. 12 June 2002. (Original data source: 'World Bank 2002, Table 5.1, and authors' calculations.')

6. “Trade Highlights.” Spices Board. Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. http://www.indianspices.com/html/s0410trd.htm , accessed 10 Oct 2004.

7. Compiled from United States International Trade Commission Dataweb, http://dataweb.usitc.gov

Picture credits:

Turmeric annointment courtesy of

Turmeric photo from www.cdfa.ca.gov/ phpps/pe/page65.htm