Sections 4 and 6: Research Results and Intellectual Property

In one line

Section 4 stops anyone passing the results of research on Indian biological material to a foreigner, a non-resident Indian, a company incorporated abroad or a foreign-controlled Indian company without the written approval of the National Biodiversity Authority, and section 6 stops a patent being obtained on Indian biological material without permission.

In exam wording: section 4 of the Biological Diversity Act 2002, as substituted by the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act 2023, provides that no person or entity shall share or transfer any result of the research on any biological resource occurring in, or obtained or accessed from, India or traditional knowledge associated thereto, for monetary consideration or otherwise, to a person or body corporate referred to in section 3(2), without the prior written approval of the National Biodiversity Authority, except the codified traditional knowledge which is only for Indians; its provisos provide that the section does not apply if publication of research papers or dissemination of knowledge in any seminar or workshop involving financial benefit is as per the guidelines issued by the Central Government, that registration with the Authority is necessary where the results are used for further research, and that the Authority's prior approval is required where they are used for commercial utilisation or for obtaining intellectual property rights; and section 6, as substituted in 2023, requires a section 3 person to obtain prior approval of the Authority before the grant of an intellectual property right in or outside India for an invention based on research or information on a biological resource accessed from India, including material deposited in repositories outside India, or on traditional knowledge associated with it.

Section 4: sharing or transferring research results

The text. Section 4 was substituted by the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act 2023, in force from 1 April 2024. It now reads:

No person or entity shall share or transfer any result of the research on any biological resource occurring in, or obtained or accessed from, India or traditional knowledge associated thereto, for monetary consideration or otherwise, to a person or body corporate referred to in sub-section (2) of section 3, without the prior written approval of the National Biodiversity Authority, except the codified traditional knowledge which is only for Indians:

Provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply if publication of research papers or dissemination of knowledge in any seminar or workshop involving financial benefit is as per the guidelines issued by the Central Government:

Provided further that where the results of research are used for further research, then, the registration with the National Biodiversity Authority shall be necessary:

Provided also that if the results of research are used for commercial utilisation or for obtaining any intellectual property rights, within or outside India, prior approval of the National Biodiversity Authority shall be required to be taken in accordance with the provisions of this Act.