Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 17:19:42 +0530
From: VYASAMOORTHY /IKP/HYD
Dear Friends:
Niscom Project on Traditional Knowledge Dihital Library also looks into
Classification aspects. Here is a news item:
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TKDL- A safeguard for Indian traditional knowledge
by Nirupa Sen
Excerpted from: Current Science 82 (9): 1070-71.
India has woken up to the task of protecting her traditional knowledge from
patent bio-piracy. The trigger was the successful revoking by the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of patents filed on turmeric, neem
and basmati. This success set the tarmac from which the new initiative
called the 'Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL)' is getting ready
for flight. The first phase of TKDL on ayurveda is marked for completion in
October this year. For bringing out a TKDL on ayurveda, a Memorandum of
Understanding was signed on 6 June 2001 between the National Institute of
Science Communication (NISCOM), New Delhi and the Department of Indian
Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM&H), Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare.
When compiled, TKDL would have documented the traditional knowledge
available in the public domain in a digitized format. Starting with the
existing literature in ayurveda, it would later cover unani, siddha,
naturopathy, homeopathy and folklore medicine. In the first phase, a
'Traditional Knowledge Resource Classification (TKRC)' is being prepared for
2147 medicinal plants. The content of TKDL would initially consist of about
35,000 'slokas' (verses) from ayurveda. These slokas gleaned from 14 ancient
texts and recognized books would be digitally transcribed into a readable
form and made available both in Indian and foreign languages. The
methodology adopted in setting up TKDL is explained below. TKDL would help
patent examiners the world over to have a ready reference to Indian
traditional knowledge, while granting patents in such domains. The project
cost for TKDL is about Rs.1.18 crore. TKDL is an effort that brings together
the Department of ISM&H, CSIR and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. :
At the inauguration of TKDL in New-Delhi on 26 March 2002, the Minister of
Health and Family Welfare, C. P. Thakur emphasized that TKDL would play 'a
crucial role not only in documenting our precious heritage in the area of
traditional health-care systems, but also in preventing bio-piracy and un- -
scrupulous patenting of indigenous herbal medicinal formulations'. He stated
that in the prevailing era of globalization, only the efficient would
survive. Therefore we need to protect ourselves from theft of traditional
knowledge. The TKDL, he added, could also serve as a useful reference point
for research workers. The awareness that such a library would create might
help the cause of preventing extinction of rare species. Awareness generated
could be helpful in the propagation of such species in conjunction with
farmers, Thakur felt.
R. A. Mashelkar, Director General of CSIR, while speaking on this occasion
pointed out that the global market for herbal/traditional medicines is US $
60 billion, with an annual growth rate of 5- 15%. In this, China's share is
about US $ 7-8 billion and India's US $ 400- 500 million. He also referred
to a TKDL Task Force study of the US Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO)
database conducted in March 2000. The study showed that out of 4896
references on 90 medicinal plants mentioned in the USPTO database, 80% of
these references was on seven medicinal plants of Indian origin:
Kumari, 'Mustaka, Tamraparna, Garjara, Atasi, Jambira, Kharbuja. The
findings revealed that out of the 762 patents on medicinal plants studied,
360 of them could be characterized as traditional.
There has been international acceptance of TKDL, Recently, the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) constituted a group of members
from USPTO, China, Japan, European Patent Office and India for discussing
the findings of the TKDL Task Force. The group presented their views at the
International Patent Classification (IPC) Union meeting in February this
year. The outcome is to create a new sub-class for TKRC in IPC and link TKRC
with ayurveda. India's TKDL database has also been selected for a pilot
study by 170 member states of WIPO. India presently is not a member of the
IPC Union.
When completed, TKDL would help patent examiners for easy retrieval of
traditional knowledge-related information, thus avoiding the possibility of
granting patents to unoriginal inventions. Further, a review process of
patents already granted in light of the TKDL database would help in
cancellation of some patents.
Methodology used for TKDL
Slokas from ayurvedic texts are first identified. Each sloka is read and
converted into structured language using Traditional Knowledge Resource
Classification (TKRC). TKRC is innovative in itself. The TKRC classification
has been evolved for about 5000 subgroups as against one group in file
International Patent Classification (IPC) for traditional knowledge. The
TKDL portal would be based on XML standards and would be
platform-independent. The codes for each sloka are fed into a data entry
screen and also saved on the database. Computer-savvy ayurveda experts carry
out the data entry. These are then decoded in different languages. The
ayurvedic formulations can be presently decoded in English, French, German,
Hindi, Japanese and Spanish. In future, it would be available in 20 foreign
languages and all Indian languages. The decoded format of the formulation is
easy to read and understand, even by the layman.
The web version of TKDL would include a web-based search interface. This
would provide for a full text search and retrieval of traditional knowledge
information on IPC and keywords in multiple languages. TKRC would be an
integral part of TKDL, and would provide a background on ayurvedic concepts,
definitions and scientific basis of Indian systems of medicine. In addition,
it would carry information on practitioners, hospitals and dispensaries.
There are several search features incorporated in the format.
According to V. K. Gupta, Director of National Institute of Science
Communication, the TKDL software developed in-house does not do
transliteration but it does smart translation. Once abstracted, data from
the slokas are converted into several languages using Unicode meta data
methodology. The software developed can perform smart translation of
botanical names and ayurvedic descriptions from traditional terminology into
modern terminology. Examples of this are 'Kumari' to 'Aloe Vera', or
'Mussorika' to 'small pox', etc.
Nirupa Sen, 1333 Poorvanchal Complex, I.N.U. New Campus, New Delhi 110067,
India (e-mail: nirupasen@vsnl.net).
==================
Dr.P.Vyasamoorthy, Advisor, Virtual Information Centre,
ICICI Knowledge Park, Turkapalli Village, Shameerpet Mandal,
RR District, Hyderabad 500078 (Website: www.vic-ikp.info )
Ph: 2348 0053; Fax: 2348 0007; Ph. Res: 2784 6631
