Modern Biopiracy Cases

Basmati rice patent (mostly struck down)

granted 1997; narrowed by USPTO re-examination, 14 Aug 2001US Patent 5,663,484 (RiceTec Inc.)Centuries of Indian/Pakistani basmati cultivationPan-Indian / unspecified

1997Corrected

A Texas company patented 'basmati rice lines and grains', threatening South-Asian exporters.

Dated: 1997–2002
As scholars put it: granted 1997; narrowed by USPTO re-examination, 14 Aug 2001
Originator: US Patent 5,663,484 (RiceTec Inc.)
Source text: Centuries of Indian/Pakistani basmati cultivation
Region: Pan-Indian / unspecified
Discipline: Modern Biopiracy Cases
Evidence: Documented
Confidence: High
Verification: Corrected

Background

In 1997 the US Patent Office granted patent 5,663,484 to RiceTec, a Texas company, for 'basmati rice lines and grains', with claims covering grain qualities similar to basmati grown in India and Pakistan. India challenged three claims in 2000. RiceTec withdrew several claims, and after re-examination in 2001 the patent was limited to three specific rice lines and retitled so it no longer referred to basmati.

Significance

Showed that a regional product name, not only a plant or process, could be claimed abroad, and that exporting countries needed legal protection for such names.

Meanwhile in the West

RiceTec Inc., USA.

Fair to say

RiceTec kept a few narrow claims on specific bred lines; the key point is it could not monopolise 'Basmati'.

Path to modern innovation

Triggered India's Geographical Indications Act (1999) and stronger GI protection.

1997Basmati rice patent (mostly struck down)

Global impact

India enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods Act in 1999 (in force 2003), giving legal protection to names such as Darjeeling and Basmati.
Fed into India's 2018 application to protect Basmati as a geographical indication in the EU.

Transmission

After India's challenge, RiceTec dropped 15 of 20 claims and lost the right to use the name 'Basmati'.

References

1USPTO 5,663,484
2APEDA/GoI record