EPO accepts traditional knowledge database
13 February 2009
Peter Ollier, Hong Kong
Examiners at the European Patent Office can now use 500-year old traditional Indian medical texts when examining patent applications, after the Office signed a deal to use a pioneering database
The government of India has granted the EPO access to its Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, which is a 30-million-page searchable database of traditional knowledge translated from Hindi, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Tamil into English, Japanese, French, German and Spanish. The EPO began using the database on February 2.
"The cooperation between India and the EPO brings advantages to both parties. It helps protect India's traditional knowledge from misappropriation and gives the EPO additional relevant information for granting properly defined patents", said Paul Schwander, director of information acquisition at the...
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