Comparative Summary of Existing National Sui Generis Measures and Laws for the Protection of Traditional Knowledge

Abstract

"The Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore ('the Committee') will hold a Panel on National and Regional Experiences with Existing Sui Generis Measures and Laws for the Protection of Traditional Knowledge ('the TK Panel') as an informal part of its fifth session. The Panel responds to Member State requests during the fourth session for information about national experiences to protect traditional knowledge using national or regional sui generis laws. The objective of the Panel is to compare experiences with existing sui generis measures, to recount lessons learned, and to identify elements that are common to existing systems. A better understanding of national experiences, lessons learned, and common elements may contribute a substantive basis for future work on the protection of traditional knowledge, as envisaged in documents WIPO/GRTKF/IC/5/7 and WIPO/GRTKF/IC/5/8. The material presented at the Panel and contained in the Annex thus supplements those documents with in-depth comparative information regarding existing measures and policy options for national sui generis protection of traditional knowledge. Whereas document WIPO/GRTKF/IC/5/7 surveys national experiences and WIPO/GRTKF/IC/5/8 develops a general understanding of principles for sui generis protection, the present document compares existing sui generis measures and policy options that have been implemented by Member States at the national level. This may contribute to the future work foreseen in document WIPO/GRTKF/IC/5/8. The Panel and this information document focus exclusively on traditional knowledge in the narrow sense, i.e. tradition-based know-how and technical knowledge, and other aspects of the tradition-based useful arts ('TK'). This focus is in contrast to the distinct work that the Committee is undertaking on traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) or folklore. "