THE “CEREMONIAL USE” DEFENSE TO INFRINGEMENT OF PSYCHEDELIC PATENTS.

A psychedelic “renaissance” has led to renewed interest in the medical uses of psychedelics, particularly to assist in treatment of substance use disorders. This “renaissance” has included attempts to patent methods of using or synthesizing psychedelics. Long before this “renaissance,” however, indigenous peoples of the Americas used psychedelic plants in their religious rites, including using psychedelic plants to treat substance abuse disorders such as alcoholism. Therefore, indigenous peoples have raised concerns that the recent trend of patenting psychedelics will lead to the patenting of their traditional knowledge and impede their free exercise of religion. A current proposed solution to address such concerns is to create traditional knowledge repositories. Such repositories prevent the patenting of traditional knowledge that qualifies as “prior art” under the patent laws. However, due to the secret nature of religious ceremonies and oral transmission of religious instruction, prior indigenous uses of psychedelics may not qualify as “prior art.” Moreover, market forces may compel indigenous communities to substitute patented varieties of psychedelics for traditional varieties. Accordingly, a “ceremonial use” defense should also be recognized to provide a defense to patent infringement claims for indigenous communities and their members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]