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Critters from coral reefs are just one
source bioprospectors are using to try and find the next
wonder drug.
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Who owns the wisdom of the ages?
Protecting the knowledge rights of
indigenous cultures
Story by Jackie Wallace
In the globalized world, progress and science hold fast to the modern adage “Out
with the old, in with the new.” But groundbreaking innovations are sometimes
built upon the centuries-old, tried-and-true knowledge of indigenous cultures
from around the world. Once these ideas are modified and patented the question
arises: Is the culture from which the invention is derived, as the source of
the idea, entitled to any benefits or compensation?
The international community has been trying to reconcile this issue since the Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where the Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD) was signed. It has since been ratified by
178 countries. The CBD included a section dedicated to the protection of traditional
knowledge. “It became increasingly clear that much of the knowledge of
biodiversity, and one’s ability to use it and conserve it, was tied to
traditional knowledge,” says Timothy Hodges, the associate director of
the Access and Benefit Sharing Biodiversity Convention Office at Environment
Canada. The CBD offers a framework and some overarching principles but, according
to Hodges, “the obligations of its parties aren’t quite clear.”
Traditional knowledge takes the form of folklore, rituals and agricultural
practices, which are generally collectively owned. According to the CBD, this
knowledge is “defined by indigenous peoples as a common good.” The
Canadian Biodiversity Information Network sees a contradiction in the knowledge
being used to develop products that will be patented and “to institute
private and individual rights.” A guiding principle of the CBD is to help
countries take domestic action to protect their communities’ interests.
CANADA’S TAKE
This is a sensitive issue for Canada, says Adrienne Seel, the acting senior
project leader for Patenting and Biotechnology at Industry Canada. “We have a
strong biotech industry and a strong First Nations community that we want to
protect,” Seel says. “A major part of that is access- and benefit-sharing
programs to determine the best benefits for our indigenous population.” As
in the international community, legislation is not yet in place, but Seel says
that progress is expected in the next two years.
Internationally, organizations such as the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Council (TRIPS) of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) are working together to produce policies. TRIPS
wants to align itself with the CBD to include specifications on disclosing
sources of information, inventors being required to get approval for their
research, and methods of benefit sharing. The WTO would then be an avenue to
enforce and uphold these decisions and help settle disputes.
“Major discussions are taking place in TRIPS and WIPO, but there have
been no resolutions,” Hodges says. He sees the main challenge in nailing
down legislation to be the number of treaties and organizations with an interest
in and proposals on the issue. He thinks that the ideas “must be consolidated
to come up with something solid that will work. Then, decide where it will be
dealt with.”
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