Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore

Another novel initiative at the level of WIPO has been the setting up of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (hereafter Intergovernmental Committee) in 2000 ²⁵. The rationale for the setting up of a separate body was the realisation that issues related to traditional knowledge cut across several existing WIPO bodies. More specifically, the underlying idea was to set up a forum for debating issues concerning the interplay between intellectual property and traditional knowledge, genetic resources, and traditional cultural expressions, something that had, for instance, not been done in the context of the TRIPS negotiations. The Intergovernmental Committee focuses on three interrelated issues: the question of access to genetic resources and benefit sharing, the protection of traditional knowledge and the protection of expressions of folklore. The Intergovernmental Committee has met seven times since 2002 ²⁶.

Controversies over Patents System

Patenting in India today raises many controversies, especially so in the context of the WTO regime. On the one hand, patents reward inventors with incentive to be inventive. Inventions are necessary for the economic development of any nation. On the other hand, patents restrict access to knowledge. They give monopolistic control over knowledge to the inventor – may be an individual or a firm.

In practice, the patents system is conceived as an exception to the rules of competition and free market capitalist economies. Since patents are conceived as exception, it has long been accepted that the privileges granted to inventors have to be counter-balanced with measures to ensure that society, at large, benefits from technological development. Consequently, while the patent holder is granted significant privileges, the public has a right to be informed of the content of the invention and the privileges are limited in time so that in the long term, the public, at large, fully benefit from technological progress. The existing patents system (The New Patents Act 2005 adopted by the Government of India) is, therefore, meant to foster innovation by providing specific benefits to the inventor while promoting the public disclosure of new technologies by private parties who may otherwise tend to rely on trade secrets to safeguard their position in the market.

Notes and References

²⁵ See Matters Concerning Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, WIPO General Assembly, Twenty-Sixth Session, Doc WO/GA/26/6 (2000).
²⁶ The documents for all the sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee can be found at http://www.wipo.int/tk/en/ .