WIPO Committee Breaks Deadlock In Talks On Traditional Knowledge, Folklore

By William New
Member governments of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) this week broke a longstanding deadlock over how to discuss better protection of traditional knowledge and folklore. In addition, several countries stepped up their call for talks on genetic resources toward an international instrument.

The carefully constructed path forward on traditional knowledge and folklore (traditional cultural expressions) would allow discussion on substantive issues without specifically negotiating on earlier draft texts on protection previously prepared by the WIPO secretariat and partially rejected by some members, participants said.

Instead, after intensive consultations with the meeting chair, members agreed to collect comments on the draft texts and begin talks likely before week’s end on a non-specific list of issues drawn up by the secretariat. The move to focus on substance appears to represent a compromise on the part of the United States, Japan and some others who had urged that the talks first focus on principles and objectives. They faced a majority of countries who sought to move onto substantive debate. “This is it. We’ve moved to substance,” said one participant.

The existing draft texts, WIPO/GRTKF/IC/10/4 and WIPO/GRTKF/IC/10/5, are available here.

The 10 issues each for traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions address the underlying reason for greater protection and possible solutions (IPW, Traditional and Indigenous Knowledge, 5 December 2006).

Comments on the issues may be submitted until 31 March 2007. The next meeting of the IGC will be held in July. Some developing countries sought to add an interim meeting in the spring but a shortage of resources was cited, according to one official.

The discussions will proceed based on the list, but will not replace the preceding texts, which some say are in a draft treaty format (with principles, objectives and substantive elements).

For comments regarding the existing texts, the secretariat will make two tables, one for traditional knowledge and one for folklore, with two columns each. The columns will match comments up with the corresponding comments.

[Chair’s Draft on TK and TCEs – adopted 6 December]

1. Discussion will commence on the Issues in numerical order, if possible, during the current session, and will continue on that basis at the next session.

2. The existing documents (4, 5 and 6) remain on the table in their existing form and existing positions in relation to them are noted.

3. The discussion on the Issues is complementary to and without prejudice to existing positions in relation to the existing documents.

4. Delegations are invited to submit comments on the Issues by end of March 2007. The Secretariat will collate the comments under each of the issues and distribute them by end of April. All comments will be posted on the Internet on receipt.

5. In relation to existing comments on documents 4 and 5, the Secretariat will produce two tables (one for traditional knowledge and one for traditional cultural expressions/expressions of folklore) each containing two columns. In the first column, the titles of provisions in documents 4 and 5, as the case may be, will be reproduced, together with titles “general”, under the heading “Issues”. In the second column, the comments made by delegations and observers in relations to the titles in question will appear under the name of each delegation or observer.

William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.