PUBPOL 373 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Traditional Knowledge, Intellectual Property Infringement, United States Patent And Trademark Office
Document Summary
The us approach: genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and folklore. The united states respects and recognizes the importance of protecting genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and expressions of folklore by facilitating equitable benefit sharing, eliminating erroneously issued patents, eliminating misappropriation of traditional knowledge, and preserving expressions of folklore. In 1993, the convention on biological diversity came into force. It represents a commitment by nations to conserve biological diversity, to use biological resources sustainably, and to share the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources fairly and equitably. Wipo member states established an intergovernmental committee as an international forum for discussing the relationship between intellectual property and genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and folklore. Some holders of traditional knowledge fear that others will seek patents based on their long-held knowledge and reap the benefits from it. But an applicant trying to patent traditional knowledge likely cannot meet the three necessary requirements.