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Members of Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have concluded an agreement under which it will be mandatory for patent applicants to disclose country of origin or source of genetic resources if the claimed invention is based on those materials or associated traditional knowledge. The treaty will provide additional protection for Indian genetic resources and traditional knowledge. Although these are currently protected within India, they are prone to misappropriation in countries, which do not have disclosure obligations. The current patent legislation does not have a mandatory provision requiring patent applicants to disclose the country of origin or source in case where the invention is based on genetic resources. At present, only 35 countries have some form of disclosure obligations, most of which are not mandatory and do not have appropriate sanctions or remedies in place for effective implementation. The new treaty was adopted on May 24 at the WIPO ...
Underlining the vision of "Atmanirbhar Bharat", Union minister S Jaishankar has said a mindset itself is undergoing a transformation in the country with a "new India" that invents its COVID-19 vaccines and also lands near the south pole of the Moon. In a recorded video message played during an event here, the external affairs minister also said during India's G20 presidency last year, "we deliberated on structural issues" that are at the heart of the predicament of the Global South today. Key among those are various concentrations, created by last three-four decades of globalisation, for a variety of reasons that range from scales, subsidies, technology, human resources and strategic choices, he said. "The Global South was largely reduced to being a consumer rather than a producer. India's response to this situation is articulated in Atmanirbhar Bharat, that is self-reliant India," Jaishankar said. At its core is the "Make in India" initiative, one that "not only focuses on our own