WIPO MEMBER STATES APPROVE NEW TREATY ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, GENETIC RESOURCES AND ASSOCIATED TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE
On May 24, 2024 the Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge was approved by WIPO, establishing a new disclosure requirement for patent applicants whose inventions are based on genetic resources or associated traditional knowledge.
This Treaty provides that when an invention claimed in a patent application is based on genetic resources or traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, each Contracting Party shall require applicants to disclose the country of origin or source of the genetic resources, the Indigenous Peoples or the local community who provided the traditional knowledge, as appropriate.
This Treaty seeks to protect inventions developed from genetic resources contained, among others, in medicinal plants, agricultural crops and animal breeds, or linked to traditional knowledge through their use and conservation by Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
