INDIA has scored a significant victory in its long-running battle with a US
company over a patent on strains of basmati rice. The US Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) has weakened the controversial patent it granted in 1997 to
Texas-based RiceTec for three strains of 鈥渂asmati鈥�, a rice traditionally grown
in the Himalayan foothills of India and Pakistan.
RiceTec claimed that the strains were different from traditional basmati in
20 ways, such as grain size, starch content and yield. In April last year,
India鈥檚 Agricultural and Processed Food Exports Authority challenged three of
RiceTec鈥檚 claims, arguing that genuine basmati could display the same qualities.
It also claimed that only rice grown in the Himalayan foothills could be termed
鈥渂asmati鈥�. 鈥淲e waged a focused battle. The three claims challenged were
sufficient to knock out RiceTec鈥檚 claims on basmati,鈥� says Raghunath Mashelkar,
head of India鈥檚 Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, which collected
evidence for the case.
The USPTO鈥檚 new ruling reduced RiceTec鈥檚 claims from 20 to 5. It also said
that RiceTec could not market the rice as basmati. India is now developing a
digital 鈥渓ibrary鈥� of its traditional knowledge, which US and European patent
offices will have access to.
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