Intellectual Property Rights Related to Medicinal Plants

Natural ingredients now have quite a high prestige because people are starting to adopt a “back to nature” lifestyle. This lifestyle also influences how to treat illnesses, so people choose medicinal plants available in the surrounding area. This attracts the attention of individuals/companies to utilize these natural resources. Unfortunately, there are many cases of exploitation of medicinal plants, so the existence of these plants has decreased drastically. In addition, there are threats of biopiracy and violations of customary law associated with the massive utilization of these medicinal plants. Therefore, legal protection and rights are needed for this matter. Intellectual property rights protect medicinal plants, indigenous peoples, individuals, or companies from losses resulting from massive exploitation. The positive trend in society shows that awareness about intellectual property rights related to medicinal plants is increasing. There is still a need to understand IPR pertaining to medicinal plants, starting from the cultivation process, extraction, standardization, and formula to become a product. This chapter will discuss and summarize intellectual property rights related to medicinal plants.