AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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Report on Science and Human Rights

Winter 2003 Vol XXIII, No. 1

On December 14, 2002, the Science and Human Rights Program hosted a roundtable on traditional knowledge and intellectual property at World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) headquarters in Geneva. The roundtable, a collaborative effort with Franciscans International, a Geneva-based NGO, took place after a week of debate in the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge, and Folklore (IGC). Approximately twenty-five participants, representing NGOs, funding organizations, academia, WIPO member-states, indigenous organizations, and the WIPO secretariat, attended. This was the first time that the NGO observers had been brought together with the WIPO secretariat and member-state delegates for informal discussions of WIPO’s work on traditional knowledge.

The roundtable was moderated by SHR Senior Program Associate Stephen Hansen. SHR staff member Justin VanFleet made a presentation on the application of existing intellectual property (IP) protections to traditional knowledge and introduced the “AAAS Handbook on IP Management and Methodologies.” The handbook, co-authored by Hansen and VanFleet, will be published in 2003.

In 2000, the WIPO General Assembly established the IGC to explore topics related to the protection of traditional knowledge. The IGC serves as a forum for dialogue among the various bodies in WIPO on issues at the intersection of traditional knowledge and intellectual property. Although not a legislative authority, the IGC can make suggestions and recommendations to other WIPO bodies.

The fifth and final IGC is scheduled for June 2003. After the final IGC meeting, traditional knowledge activities are likely to continue in the form of working groups focused on specific tasks.

SHR will continue to collaborate with the WIPO secretariat on the human rights components of intellectual property and traditional knowledge. For more information on the IGC, visit: http://www.wipo.int/globalissues.