Abstract:

At present, intellectual property protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, are matters primarily for national governments. Negotiations are currently underway in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to develop an international legal instrument (or instruments) for the effective protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, and to address the intellectual property aspects of the access to and the sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. These negotiations are taking place in the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), established by the WIPO General Assembly in 2000.This brief is concerned with a very specific understanding of the term “protection”, to mean the use of intellectual property (IP) laws, values and principles to prevent unauthorized or inappropriate uses, by third parties, of traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs). The objective of IP protection is to make sure that the intellectual innovation and creativity embodied in TK or TCEs are not wrongly used.