Turmeric is the spice that will be found in every Indian kitchen. It is not only a spice but also an effective medicine. Bitter in taste but turmeric is used to give color to the vegetable. At the same time, its root is used in making many medicines. Turmeric is used to clean the blood and also heals the wound. Also in olden times it is used to reduce high fever. Do you know that once India and America were face to face regarding this. In fact, America had refused to believe that turmeric is Indian.
what was the whole matter
In 1994, the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) granted a patent for the antiseptic properties of turmeric to two researchers from the University of Mississippi, Suman Das and Harihar Kohli. There was a lot of ruckus in India on this. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of India fought the case. India claimed that the antiseptic properties of turmeric come in the traditional knowledge of India and they are also mentioned in the Ayurvedic texts of India. After this, the PTO canceled the patent of both the researchers in August 1997.
CSIR had refused to accept America's claim. CSIR had said that turmeric has been used for the past several centuries to heal wounds of people in India. CSIR had hired an American lawyer at that time to fight the case. $15,000 was spent on the case. CSIR had presented many documents which were published in many science journals and books.
Part of Ayurveda of India
In all these documents, turmeric was described as a part of Ayurveda, describing it as a part of Indian medicine. It was said on behalf of Indian scientists that for the first time such things are happening in America in which efforts are being made to snatch its traditional medicine from a developing country. America had already claimed its rights on many Indian products.
need to preserve traditional knowledge
On the defeat of America, the then director of CSIR Raghunath Mashalekar had said that the success of this case will have far-reaching consequences, especially in the direction of protecting traditional knowledge. This will prove beneficial not only for India but also for third world countries. He had also said that the case also shows the importance of preserving traditional knowledge. This was refused to be accepted by the patent office. Mashelkar said that the fight for turmeric was not fought for financial reasons but for the pride of the country.
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