With Regard to the protection of Traditional Knowledge (TK), the Japan Patent Office (JPO) has utilized a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) in its substantive patent examinations as a reference tool, and has regularly reported the number of times the content of the TKDL was cited by the JPO examiners during the search process to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under the access agreement of the TKDL between the JPO and the CSIR in April 2011. In this connection, Japan would like to know how much TKDL is used in the substantive patent examinations by the Controller General of Patent, Design, and Trade Marks (CGPDTM).
Reply: TKDL is used in the substantive patent examinations in Indian Patent Office as and when such use of TKDL is necessary for examination of patent application by virtue of the subject matter of the invention.
