Treaty on industrial property, genetic resources and associated traditional knowledgeOn May 24, 2024, WIPO Member States approved a groundbreaking new Treaty on industrial property (IP), genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. This successful outcome represents a historic breakthrough, culminating decades of negotiations that began in 2001 after Colombia proposed it in 1999. The final phase of this process took place at the Diplomatic Conference held in Geneva from May 13-24, 2024. It is the first WIPO Treaty to address the interrelationship between industrial property, genetic resources and traditional knowledge, including for the first time specific provisions for indigenous peoples and local communities. Inventions developed from genetic resources can be protected by patent. Some of these resources are also associated with traditional knowledge used and preserved for generations by indigenous peoples and local communities. This knowledge is sometimes used in scientific research and, as such, may contribute to the development of a protected invention. The objectives of the Treaty are, according to its Article 1, to increase the efficiency, transparency and quality of the patent system with respect to genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated therewith, and to prevent patents from being erroneously granted for inventions that are neither novel nor inventive in relation to genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated therewith. The core of the Treaty lies in the so-called “disclosure requirement” regulated in its Article 3. In essence, this requirement is that when an invention claimed in a patent application is based on genetic resources, applicants must disclose the country of origin or source of such genetic resources. Similarly, where the claimed invention is based on traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, applicants must disclose the indigenous peoples or local community which provided it.
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