“INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, TRADE SECRETS AND TECH TRANSFER IN CELLULAR AGRICULTURE: CROSS-JURISDICTIONAL CHALLENGES”

AUTHOR – TANYA RASTOGI* & MS. PURNIMA TYAGI**

* STUDENT AT LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY

** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY

BEST CITATION – TANYA RASTOGI & MS. PURNIMA TYAGI, “INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, TRADE SECRETS AND TECH TRANSFER IN CELLULAR AGRICULTURE: CROSS-JURISDICTIONAL CHALLENGES”, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (8) OF 2026, PG. 588-598, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344

Abstract

Cellular agriculture, which is the main components of the supply chain, includes cultivated meat, precision fermentation as well as cell, based dairy and the major dependence is on IP and proprietary know, how for transforming laboratory innovation into the production of food systems that are commercially scalable. The legal frameworks governing patents, trade secrets, and cross, border technology transfer have become complicated and fragmented as the financial investments worldwide have been considerably increased. To understand how diverse innovation pathways are affected by the varying patent standards, biological material exclusions, and disclosure requirements, this article compares the United States, European Union, Singapore, and India. It is noted that the relatively less restrictive biotech patent conditions in the US and Singapore are counterbalanced by the EU’s cautious stance and India’s legal prohibitions under Sections 3(c), 3(i), and 3(j), which lead to the areas of cell lines, growth media, and bioprocess engineering becoming unclear with regard to the patent protection.

Simultaneously, trade, secret protection is at the core of the security of confidential cell, culture methods and scale, up processes, which differ considerably thus, the US DTSA and EU Trade Secrets Directive provide strong statutory support as compared to India’s common, law, based regime. Besides competition law, licensing complexities, and Nagoya Protocol obligations, cross, border technology transfer has further limitations. The study ends up with the identification of principal harmonisation differences and the proposal of policy amendments orienting towards the maintenance of a safe, ethical, and innovation, driven development of cellular agriculture within an interoperable global regulatory framework.