UN countries adopt treaty to better trace origins of genetic resources under global patent system
U.N. member countries have concluded a new treaty to help ensure that traditional knowledge about genetic resources — like medicines derived from exotic plants in the Andes mountains — is properly traced
GENEVA (AP) — U.N. member countries on Friday concluded a new treaty to help ensure that traditional knowledge about genetic resources, like medicines derived from exotic plants in the Andes mountains, is properly traced.
It marks the first time the 193 member states of the U.N.’s World Intellectual Property Organization have reached agreement on patent protections about historic knowledge from indigenous cultures, which have long been exploited by colonists, traders and others.
The treaty doesn’t address compensation to indigenous communities for their historic expertise about products drawn from things like from tropical plants.
But the accord is seen as an important first step. It requires patent applicants, like foreign entrepreneurs or international companies, to specify where they got ideas about what goes into their products, especially inputs drawn from the knowledge of indigenous or local peoples.
