Traditional Knowledge, Folklore: How To Protect Them From Misappropriation – This Week At WIPO 10/12/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The ways to protect traditional knowledge and folklore against misuse and misappropriation are under discussion this week at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Member states are trying to find consensus on draft articles of a potential treaty, with a focus on core subjects, such as the scope of protection, and definition. Meanwhile, the fund which allows indigenous peoples to participate in the discussion is depleted, as calls for contributions have remained unanswered and some countries have refused in the past to allow WIPO’s ample revenues to pay for them.
European Council Committee Agrees On Higher Protection For Spirit Drinks, Takes GIs Beyond TRIPS 10/12/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment An agriculture committee of the European Council today adopted an agreement on labelling of spirit drinks, giving them higher protection by adding seven years to the World Trade Organization minimum intellectual property standard.
Licensing Experts Share Experiences At WIPO 07/12/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment Voluntary licences are cited by some as the best way to facilitate access to medicines. Terms of the licences are important, many factors have to be taken into consideration, and the earlier the better, as explained by licencing experts at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week.
CBD Biennial Meeting Closes With Resolutions On Digital Sequence Data, Conflicts Of Interest, Global Benefit-Sharing 30/11/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment The biennial meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its protocol on access and benefit-sharing closed yesterday with a list of adopted decisions. Among them was a decision to commission several studies on the impact of digital sequence data on the CBD for a recommendation at the next meeting in 2020. Delegates also agreed on a study to examine cases of genetic resources, and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, not yet covered by the protocol. Also adopted is the first decision on the management and prevention of conflicts of interest in expert groups.
Economically Sound And Fair Global Genetics Benefit-Sharing System Possible, Panellists Say 29/11/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — UN Convention on Biological Diversity members were trying this week to address questions that were left open when its protocol on access and benefit-sharing was adopted eight years ago. One of them is how to deal with genetic resources which are not yet covered by the protocol. A side event to the biennial conference of CBD members this week presented a solution, which they say could provide a more efficient, cost-effective and fairer system of access and benefit-sharing, based on inventions protected by intellectual property rights.
UN Biodiversity Convention Agrees On Precautionary Approach To Synthetic Biology 29/11/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment SHARM El-SHEIKH, Egypt — While the world has been taken by surprise after a Chinese researcher declared he had genetically modified twin babies, and critics are rising from all parts, the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted a decision on synthetic biology today at the close of its biennial meeting. The decision which calls for a precautionary approach was hailed by civil society groups which were calling for a moratorium preventing gene drive organisms to be released in the wild.
Shared Indigenous Knowledge And Benefit-Sharing Needs Particular Attention, Panel Tells CBD 29/11/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment SHARM El-SHEIKH, Egypt — Traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources held by indigenous and local communities is often not confined to one group or one specific geographical location. Displacement whether cultural or forced, political redesigning of borders, and exchanges with other communities have all contributed to the dispersion of that knowledge. This shared knowledge poses an issue in the context of benefit-sharing of commercial benefits on inventions derived from this knowledge. A side event on the side of the biennial meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity looked at how to address shared traditional knowledge.
Gene Editing Divides UN Biodiversity Convention Members On Synthetic Biology Evaluation 28/11/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — After informal closed consultations, a draft decision was issued yesterday on how the UN Convention on Biological Diversity should address potential impacts of synthetic biology, during the biennial conference of the parties taking place this week. The issue of the release of gene drive organisms into the environment was a contentious issue as civil society had been lobbying for a moratorium preventing the release into the wild of those organisms able to wipe out entire species. This morning consensus was still eluding delegates, particularly over the singling out of gene editing in the decision.
CBD Negotiating Group Issues Draft Decision On Genetic Resources Data 27/11/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — The co-chairs of a contact group working to find consensus language on a decision on genetic resources data issued a new draft this afternoon at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meetings in Egypt.
Panellists To CBD: Funds Needed To Save Biodiversity, Genetic Resources Not In Nagoya Protocol Should Be Included 27/11/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment SHARM-EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – The access and benefit sharing protocol of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is based on bilateral agreements between providers and users of genetic resources. There are, however, many cases where genetic resources are dispersed, and difficult to attribute to only one location. The issue is being discussed at the biennial meeting of the CBD member states, in particular the possibility of a global multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism to address those genetic resources not yet covered by the protocol. A side event yesterday explored the possible conditions and needs for establishing such a mechanism, and called for urgent action.
