Intellectual property rights policy for Kerala 2008
The Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) Policy for Kerala puts forth the concept of 'knowledge commons' and 'commons licence' for traditional knowledge. The policy says that all traditional knowledge, including traditional medicine, must belong to the domain of "knowledge commons" and not to public domain. The system should be introduced through legal arrangements. While community or family custodians will have rights to knowledge that belonged to them, the rest of the traditional knowledge will belong to Kerala State. The policy proposes that the State should make it mandatory for all applications from foreigners to the National Biodiversity Authority for making use of traditional knowledge of Kerala to be referred to the State Biodiversity Board.