Week 5 (9/24) Intellectual Property in India: Ethical Decision-Making

Part I

FACTS OF THE CASE

  • Neem considered sacred by Hindus and Muslims 
  • 14 million neem trees in India
    • Used widely across India
    • Neem industry employs a large population of poor people in India
  • Neems can be used for medicinal purposes, food production, toiletries, fuel, and pesticides
  • Chetan runs a family-owned business of neem products
    • His family has run the business for the last 7 years
  • Tom has a patent on the pesticide formula, he is the director of Oregon Organic Pesticide Services (OOPS)
  • Tom’s business became immediately successful and OOPS is now working towards moving worldwide
    • OOPS will be able to sell the neem products for a lower price than Chetan
  • Tom open to collaboration if it would help him make more money
  • Chetan met with Tom several times

 

Ethical Question: What rights does Chetan have to the Neem seed extract and is it ethical for the US company to uphold their patent rights? 

Who has the rights to the seeds and the pesticides? Indigenous knowledge.

 

STAKEHOLDERS AND MOTIVATIONS

  1. O.O.P.S.
    1. Incentive to make money and be successful
    2. Could earn a greater profit by demanding royalties from Chetan
    3. Want to bring in an income for the Oregon Organic Pesticides Services
  2. Tom Johnson 
    1. Currently has a patent of the pesticide recipe
    2. Wants to make money off the pesticide that he created
  3. Chetan
    1. His family has been running the business for 7 generations
    2. Has been using the neem tree to produce products for generations
  4. Chetan’s Employees
    1. Want to keep their jobs and provide for their families
  5. Corporate investors in the US
    1. Want a return on investment 
  6. Other small businesses that make neem-based insecticides
    1. They would suffer from the larger US monopolizing the market
    2. They would also have to pay a royalty
    3. Plant is native to India and sacred

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

  1. Continue as normal 
  2. Chetan partners with the O.O.P.S if possible
  3. Stop selling pesticides
  4. If there is a special process for extracting the oil – patentable but patenting the natural product not as feasible 
  5. Based on past rejections of patents, Chetan should fight the patent.

https://sites.psu.edu/senhese/2016/10/24/case-study-7-intellectual-property/

https://www.neemfoundation.org/about-neem/patent-on-neem/

Leave a Reply