Abstract:

This study concerns disclosure requirements in patent law that are relevant to genetic resources (GR) and traditional knowledge (TK) that are used in inventions for which patent protection is claimed. The immediate context for this study is provided by the invitation of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to prepare a technical study, and to report its findings to the Conference of the Parties at its seventh meeting, on methods consistent with obligations in treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization for requiring the disclosure within patent applications