World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) update for the Eleventh session
Written by Patricia Adjei. First published in Art+Law, June 2007.
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) provides a forum for international policy debate and development of legal mechanisms and practical tools concerning the protection of traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCE) against misappropriation and misuse, and the intellectual property (IP) aspects of access to and benefit-sharing in genetic resources.The eleventh session for the Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) on intellectual property and genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore, is coming up in Geneva from 3 to 12 July 2007. This session has been extended to eight working days to enable more to be accomplished on the agenda.
The WIPO General Assembly also set up at its 32nd session in September 2005, a voluntary contribution fund for accredited Indigenous and local communities. The voluntary fund was set up so that representatives of Indigenous and local communities could be present at some of the sessions and give presentations on their communities’ experiences and concerns in relation to traditional cultural expressions/ expressions of folklore (TCE/EOF), traditional knowledge (TK) and other related genetic resources. I have been invited to attend the eleventh session of the IGC as an Indigenous expert to present on IP and traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions from the perspective of the community.
This article will highlight the most relevant parts of the IGC to Artists in the Black.
Traditional cultural expressions/expressions of folklore
The summary of working documents outlines what the IGC will be discussing at the eleventh session. In terms of the protection of TCE/EOF, the IGC is considering two processes. The first is the consideration of an agreed list of issues concerning the protection of TCEs/EoFs. The second process is the draft set of the “Revised Objectives and Principles of TCEs/EoFs”.
The list of issues concerning the protection of TCEs/EoFs were discussed and debated in the tenth session and are currently contained in a working document. Ten issues were raised to be considered. Some of these issues include what definition of TCE/EOF is to be protected and what objective is sought as a result of according intellectual property protection? These questions were then considered in relation to TK. Written comments were submitted and a draft list of issues will be submitted in time for the eleventh session.
The objectives and principles reflect what the IGC has been working on over the decades. The content of these objectives are policy driven to set “common general directions for protection and provide a consistent policy framework”. The structure of the objectives and principles are divided into two categories: guiding principles and specific substantive principles. The guiding principles are set “to ensure consistency, balance and effectiveness of substantive principles”. The specific substantive principles are used to define the legal essence of protection. So the guiding principles could be seen as the policy supporting and directing the legalities of the substantive principles. It will be interesting to see how these two categories of principles interact when the final draft of the objectives and principles are finalised.
Traditional Knowledge
In relation to the protection of TK, the IGC considers TK in the same format as the TCEs/EoFs. This means that there is also an agreed list of issues concerning the protection of TK as well as the draft set of revised objectives and principles. The list of issues will be developed from the collection of written comments from the tenth and eleventh sessions. The objectives and principles are being developed from written comments between the ninth and tenth sessions. Some of the issues that were raised at previous sessions were: what is the definition of TK that will be protected? How long should protections be? How far do other existing IP regulations already provide protections? What gaps need to be filled? What sort of penalties could be enforced?
The process is very democratic and it will take several more sessions to finalise these documents to thoroughly and fairly protect all types of TK.
Practical Means of Giving Effect to the International Dimension of the IGC’s work
This section of the IGC is focused on providing technical background information on issues such as the interaction between the international dimension and national legal systems, the appropriate relationship with other international instruments and processes as well as the preferred manner of foreign rights holders. These discussions will look at the practical outcomes and how to co-ordinate these outcomes in a practical, efficient way.
There are several issues that need to be discussed in terms of the IGC’s work, including the format in which the IGC’s work will be presented, such as a binding international instrument, recommendations, guidelines, model provisions, authoritative or persuasive interpretations of existing legal instruments or an international political declaration.
Other Discussions
The IGC also discusses the protection of TK within the patent system. This includes discussing genetic resources, IP issues and international developments. There is a general overview about the activities and outcomes of the IGC. This overview is to consider the interaction between the IGC and the other WIPO programs.
*Patricia Adjei is the Indigenous Solicitor at Arts Law.
