Divya Pharmacy v Union of India (2018, Uttarakhand HC)

Intellectual Property Rights II · WTO, the Doha Round and Dispute Settlement

Facts.

Divya Pharmacy, an Indian company using biological resources from Uttarakhand, argued that the Biological Diversity Act’s benefit-sharing obligation applied only to foreigners, not to Indian entities.

Issue.

Does the fair-and-equitable benefit-sharing regime (CBD + BD Act 2002) apply to a purely Indian company?

Held.

Yes. The High Court held that the CBD’s principle of fair and equitable benefit-sharing, implemented by the BD Act, binds Indian commercial users too; the State Biodiversity Board may demand benefit-sharing from them.

Why it matters.

Confirms that the CBD’s ABS objective has real domestic bite in India — genetic resources cannot be exploited commercially, even by locals, without sharing the benefits.

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