Legal Protection For Traditional Knowledge

Legal Protection for Traditional Knowledge calls attention to the vital contributions that aboriginal knowledge makes to global development and how the legal systems in place, particularly in India, must change to protect this knowledge.This book is a must-read for researchers in economics, development studies, and international law.

Traditional knowledge is largely oral collective of knowledge, beliefs, and practices of indigenous people on sustainable use and management of resources. The survival of this knowledge is at risk due to various difficulties faced by the holders of this knowledge, the threat to the cultural survival of many communities, and the international lack of respect and appreciation of traditional knowledge. However, the greatest threat is that of appropriation by commercial entities in derogation of the rights of the original holders. Though this practice is morally questionable, in the absence of specific legal provisions, it cannot be regarded as a crime. Intellectual Property Rights and the Protection of Traditional Knowledge is a collection of innovative research on methods for protecting indigenous knowledge including studies on intellectual property rights and sovereignty rights. It also analyzes the contrasting interests of developing and developed countries in the protection of traditional knowledge as an asset. While highlighting topics including biopiracy, dispute resolution, and patent law, this book is ideally designed for legal experts, students, industry professionals, and practitioners seeking current research on the development and enforcement of intellectual property rights in relation to traditional knowledge.

This Brief explores the issues concerning customary law, traditional knowledge and intellectual property.

This is the first comprehensive review of the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) established in 2000. It provides an in-depth consideration of the key thematic areas within WIPO discussions – genetic resources (GRs), traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) through the perspectives of a broad range of experts and stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and local communities. It also looks at how these areas have been treated in a number of forums and settings (including national systems and experiences, and also in trade agreements) and the interface with WIPO discussions. Furthermore, the book analyses the process and the negotiation dynamics since the IGC received a mandate from WIPO members, in 2009, to undertake formal text-based negotiations towards legal instruments for the protection of GR, TK and TCEs. While there has been some progress in these negotiations, important disagreements persist. If these are to be resolved, the adoption of these legal instruments would be a significant development towards resolving key gaps in the modern intellectual property system. In this regard, the book considers the future of the IGC and suggests options which could contribute towards achieving a consensual outcome.

Analyses the methods of protection of biodiversity and related traditional knowledge in the international and comparative national intellectual property systems.

Protecting Traditional Knowledgeexamines the emerging international frameworks for the protection of Indigenous traditional knowledge, and presents an analysis situated at the intersection between intellectual property, access and benefit sharing, and Indigenous peoples' rights to self-determination. Drawing on the experience of India and Peru, the author identifies lessons that may be used by Indigenous and local communities in making decisions regarding the protection of traditional knowledge. Using these two key case studies, the book argues that a sui generisregime based on principles of self-determination, prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms may empower Indigenous and local communities and act as a form of corrective justice. This informative and accessible book will be a valuable resource for Indigenous and local peoples as well as scholars of intellectual property law, Indigenous knowledge systems and international environmental law. It will also be of interest to readers working in policy development, governance, law and international development, human rights and the rights of Indigenous and local communities.

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2006 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, grade: A-, Victoria University of Wellington (Faculty of Law), 47 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Indigenous people often know a lot about the healing properties or other useful characteristics of their indigenous plants. This knowledge usually has been passed on within the indigenous community from generation to generation and is therefore regarded as traditional knowledge. This traditional knowledge is of great value for the pharmaceutical industry. Accordingly, it has been explored, used as the basis for subsequently patented in-ventions, and sometimes misappropriated by pharmaceutical companies from the "developed" world. This essay seeks to provide an overview of the problems and issues that arise where traditional knowl-edge meets the "Western" intellectual property regime. The questions that are sought to be answered are: Why should traditional knowledge be protected as intellectual property and how could this be done? Many approaches have been made, both on an international and a national level. Several of these solutions will be presented and discussed in this essay. It will be seen that already existing intellectual property rights are not suitable for the protection of traditional knowledge. Compared with this, the implementation of safeguards within patent applica-tion proceedings seems to be more appropriate and effective. However, this approach turns out to be not com-prehensive enough. Therefore, this essay recommends the protection of traditional knowledge by an intellectual property right sui generis, specially designed for that purpose. This solution is favourable because it is the most complete one, is able to address all issues in an appropriate way, and can strike a balance between the involved conflicting interests.