PATENTS – WIPO TREATY ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, GENETIC RESOURCES AND ASSOCIATED TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE
After lengthy negotiations that began at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2001, the organization’s member states approved a new Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge on May 24, 2024.
Article 3 of the treaty seeks to establish a disclosure requirement for applicants with patent applications where:
- the inventions are based on genetic resources (disclosure of the country of origin or, in specifically stated cases, disclosure of the source of the genetic resources);
- the inventions are based on traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources (disclosure of the Indigenous Peoples or local community who provided the traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources; in specifically stated cases, the source of the traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources).
Each contracting party must put in place remedies and sanctions so as to address any failure to provide the aforementioned information.
As a reminder, Federal patent law already contains provisions relative to genetic resources and traditional knowledge. Article 49a stipulates that:
“The patent application must contain information regarding the source:
a. of the genetic resource to which the inventor or petitioner had access, insofar as the invention relates directly to this resource;
b. of the traditional knowledge of the indigenous or local communities relative to the genetic resources to which the inventor or the petitioner had access, insofar as the invention relates directly to this knowledge.”
To be continued…
For more information: