Morung Express News
Dimapur | January 16
IN A significant step aimed at protecting the indigenous knowledge base of the community, the State Government in now in the process of working out the modalities to put in place a regime to protect the intellectual property rights of different traditional products. Towards this end, a Working Committee for Patents under the Agriculture Department, Government of Nagaland, is being set up by the government to document and process all forms of native assets unique to the State. This was disclosed by highly-placed sources from the Agriculture Department, Kohima.
Delivering a powerful message, the Chief Minister of Nagaland Neiphiu Rio has likewise cautioned that all natural assets native to Nagaland be protected since, with the advent of globalization, traditional Naga works, ornamentation and handcrafts have become commercially viable commodities and therefore in danger of being pirated by powerful global players.
Speaking during an awareness programme on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) organized by the Department of Industries and Commerce in association with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) held at Dimapur today, Rio said that Naga designs and motifs have become commercially viable and could be economically exploited for benefit. “But along with the value there are also dangers. Anything can be copied especially by technologically superior and economically advanced countries” he cautioned adding not only duplication was a threat but also the multiplication of things at much faster rates and production at much lower prices. “It is for such reasons that Intellectual Property Rights is a global issue and nations all over the world are very proactive and sensitive to it. This is essentially because millions and billions of dollars can be involved in such process” Rio added.
Given the seriousness of the issue, Rio called upon the people to act with urgency to ensure that the rich legacies of the Nagas remain protected from being hijacked. “If we allow this to happen we would have lost for ourselves and the future generations the great wealth which our ancestors have bestowed upon us” Rio forewarned.
Meanwhile, Alemtemshi Jamir, Principal Secretary, Department of Industries & Commerce who is also the Agriculture Production Commissioner (ACP) when contacted confirmed the information that a central working committee on patents under the Agriculture department was currently being set up. “The committee, with bio-scholars like Botanists and Biologists as members, would document various assets ‘peculiar’ to the State of Nagaland” the Principal Secretary told The Morung Express adding that the move would preserve and protect exclusive Naga assets from illegal reproduction/replication or ownership claims from foreign elements.
The said committee would be a central conduit for all patenting and documentation purposes in the State and later on it might be reinstated as a Society after the lapse of a stipulated time. According to additional sources from the department, the Committee for Patents is currently processing documentation only of biodiversity assets. It was informed the rare Blithe’s Tragopan, Khokho (wild ox), hill Rhododendron and some rare species of plants were among the bio-assets being processed for documentation.
It must be mentioned that the need to protect the originality of native assets unique to Nagaland, from imitation and illegal reproduction has been long felt for the past 30 years. In this regard The Government of Nagaland in collaboration with NIFT is initiating steps to safeguard Intellectual Property Rights to protect native wealth. This project would be funded by the Development Commission (Handicrafts).
