WIPO Publishes Expert Paper On Documenting Traditional Medical Knowledge

The World Intellectual Property Organization recently published a paper entitled, “Documenting Traditional Medical Knowledge.” With the growing use of traditional and alternative medicines in developed countries, their importance in developing countries’ health systems and the multi-billion dollar potential of benefits for companies, “documenting and protecting these medicines is becoming a greater priority,” the document states.

The paper was authored by Prof. Ryan Abbott, associate professor of law at Southwestern Law School (US) and visiting assistant professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

It provides an introduction to traditional medical knowledge (TMK) and how it is used. It then gives an overview of international and some national regulations related to traditional medicine, and address the relationship between traditional medicine and intellectual property rights.

The rest of the paper is focused on the issue of the documentation of traditional medicine. “TMK holders should ensure they understand both the risks and benefits of documentation prior to taking action,” Abbott writes.

Abbott lists several ways of, and challenges in, documenting TMK, and suggests step-by-step guidelines and some checklists to be applied before, during and after documenting TMK.