In defense of traditional knowledge: the case of Bt brinjal and challenges to the international intellectual property agenda

Theories on the globalization and harmonization of intellectual property law tend to take a state-level approach when discussing the impacts of large-scale harmonization of patent laws on developing countries. This paper uses a case study of the Indian experience of adapting to international treaty mandated changes to domestic patent law and the 2011 announcement of an IP lawsuit over the alleged biopiracy of genetic material from a traditional Indian plant variety, and connects the experience of an individual country to the wider body of research and theory that exists on the relationship between IP and development for non-Western countries. The paper also provides a discourse analysis of the public reaction, as covered by English-language Indian newspapers, to the lawsuit launched against Monsanto, the Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company, the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharward, and the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University by the governmental organization the National Biodiversity Authority over the development of the transgenic Bt brinjal crop.