WIPO Negotiations on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge

Abstract

At the 2000 General Assembly, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) established the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) to address intellectual property issues relating to genetic resources, traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs). Although the IGC initially focused its work on studying these issues, it obtained a new mandate to accelerate its work in October 2009 and began text-based negotiations on an international instrument, or international instruments, a few months later. These negotiations eventually paved the way for WIPO members' agreement in July 2022 to convene a diplomatic conference to conclude an International Legal Instrument Relating to Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources. Held in Geneva in May 2024, this conference resulted in the establishment of the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge in May 2024.

Written for the 2024 Intellectual Property Issue and before the adoption of the new treaty, this article focuses on developments surrounding the WIPO negotiations on genetic resources, TK and TCEs. It begins by scrutinizing the Basic Proposal the IGC released in the run-up to the WIPO Diplomatic Conference. It examines five provisions that posed challenges to, or raised complications for, the negotiations as well as the future efforts to strengthen the protection of TK and TCEs at the international level. The second half of the article then draws five reflections from the WIPO negotiations. These reflections will help evaluate the outcome of the Diplomatic Conference while also informing the future development of the international intellectual property regime, particularly in the areas of genetic resources, TK and TCEs.