India, Brazil Sign TKDL Access Agreement To Strengthen Patent Examination

New Delhi, Feb 23 (KNN) India and Brazil have formalised a cooperation arrangement granting the Larin American country access to India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL),  besides strengthening bilateral collaboration in the protection of traditional knowledge and the patent examination process.

The agreement between Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) and India’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was exchanged on 21 February 2026 in the presence of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

President Lula was on a State Visit to India from 18–22 February 2026 to attend the India AI Impact Summit 2026 and hold bilateral consultations. Both leaders welcomed the exchange of the TKDL Access Agreement, noting that it reinforces cooperation in the fields of traditional knowledge (TK) and intellectual property rights (IPR).

The agreement was exchanged by Márcio Fernando Elias Rosa, Deputy Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services of Brazil, and Periasamy Kumaran, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

Under the arrangement, the Brazilian Patent Office will receive access to the TKDL database for use during patent examination and grant procedures. The database functions as a prior-art repository designed to prevent the misappropriation and erroneous patenting of Indian traditional knowledge.

The partnership is expected to support India’s ongoing efforts to counter biopiracy while assisting Brazil in enhancing the quality and efficiency of patent scrutiny through improved assessment of novelty and prior art. Implementation will be overseen by the leadership of INPI and CSIR, including the CSIR-TKDL Unit.

The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library was established in 2001 by the Government of India through a collaboration between CSIR and the Ministry of AYUSH. It was created to prevent the wrongful grant of patents relating to Indian traditional knowledge and to safeguard the country’s knowledge heritage.

The database contains information on more than 5.2 lakh formulations and practices drawn from systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa Rigpa, as well as Yoga.

Content sourced from classical texts has been translated, codified and structured using modern scientific and technical terminology to facilitate its use in patent examination.

Available in English, German, French, Japanese and Spanish, the TKDL addresses language and format barriers that historically limited scrutiny of traditional knowledge in international patent offices.

Access is provided under non-disclosure agreements. With the inclusion of INPI, Brazil, the number of patent offices worldwide with access to the database rises to eighteen.

The TKDL is widely regarded as a benchmark initiative for the defensive protection of traditional knowledge, contributing to the revocation, rejection, amendment, withdrawal or abandonment of over 375 patent applications worldwide based on documented prior art.

(KNN Bureau)