WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/CTE/W/182
IP/C/W/242
6 February 2001
(01-0574)
Committee on Trade and Environment
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights*Original:  English
STATEMENT BY THE WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION (WIPO)
ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, BIODIVERSITY
AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE
This statement was made by WIPO at the 24-25 October 2000 meeting of the Committee on
Trade and Environment, and is being circulated to Members as requested by WIPO.
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the specialized agencies of
the United Nations (UN) system of organizations.  WIPO’s mandate is the promotion of the protection
of intellectual property (IP) throughout the wo rld through cooperation among States and, where
appropriate, in collaboration with any other international organization.  The notion “intellectual
property” is defined in the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization,1967, to include rights relating to:
• Literary, artistic and scientific works;
• performances of performing artists, sound recordings, and broadcasts;
• inventions in all fields of human endeavour;
• scientific discoveries;
• industrial designs;
• trademarks, service marks, and commercial names and designations;
• protection against unfair competition;  and
• all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary
or artistic fields.
2. WIPO, whose headquarters are in Geneva, Switze rland, has currently 173 Member States.  Its
main activities include:
• Facilitating the conclusion of new international treaties and the modernization of
national legislation;
• administration of more than 20 international treaties in the fields of copyright, related
rights, patents, industrial designs and marks;
• providing technical advice and assistance to developing countries as part of an
extensive cooperation for development programme;
• the assembly and assimilation of information and advice to a diverse range of parties;
and
                                                     
* At its meeting of 21-22 September 2000, the Council for TRIPS agreed that future documents to be
circulated in the Committee on Trade and Environment in relation to item 8 of the work programme of thatCommittee concerning "the Relevant Provisions of the TRIPS Agreement" be circulated jointly in the
Committee on Trade and Environment and the Council for TRIPS (document IP/C/M/28, paragraph 138).WT/CTE/W/182
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• the maintenance of services for facilitating the obtaining of protection of inventions,
marks and industrial designs for which protection in several countries is desired, such
as the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), 1970, the Hague Agreement Concerning the
International Deposit of Industrial Designs, 1925,  the Madrid Agreement Concerning
the International Registration of Marks, 1891, and the Protocol Relating to thatAgreement, 1989.
II. WIPO, BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE:  1998-1999
3. Since the 1998-99 biennium WIPO has taken an exploratory approach to emerging
intellectual property issues related to trade and the environment.  Specifically, Main Program 11 of
the WIPO Program and Budget, which is entitled "G lobal Intellectual Property Issues," contains a
Subprogram on "Biological Diversity and Biotechnology."  The following section provides asummary of the activities undertaken under this Main Program on intellectual property in relation to
biological diversity and traditional knowledge.
4. In 1998, WIPO commenced a new set of activities designed to explore the IP aspects of the
protection of traditional knowledge (TK).  The main objective of these activities under the WIPO
Program and Budget for 1998-1999 was to identify and explore the IP needs and expectations of theholders of TK, in order to promote the contribution of the intellectual property system to their social,
cultural and economic development.
5. During the 1998-1999 biennium, WIPO's activities were aimed at issue identification,
recognizing that basic conceptual groundwork and syst ematic data collection were required to assess
the IP aspects of the protection of TK, and to identify the scope of future work in a way which reflectsthe interests of all relevant stakeholders.  To this end, a range of activities was carried out by WIPO in
1998 and 1999, including:
(a) In July 1998 and November 1999, WIPO organized two Roundtables to facilitate an
exchange of views among policymakers, indigenous peoples and other holders of TK
on the more effective application of the IP system for the protection of traditional andindigenous knowledge.  The Lists of Participants, Programs, and Papers of these
Roundtables are available from the International Bureau of WIPO and on the WIPO
website (<www.wipo.int/traditionalknowledge>).
(b) WIPO has undertaken, in cooperation with the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), an On-Site Documentation Project on the Role of IntellectualProperty Rights in the Sharing of Benefits Arising from the Use of Traditional
Knowledge and Associated Biological Resources.  This project produced three case
studies that WIPO and UNEP jointly submitted to the fifth Conference of the Parties
to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which took place in Nairobi,
Kenya, from 15-23 May 2000.  The studies focus on cases where intellectual property
rights were used as a tool for benefit-sharing in India, Mali and Nigeria.  The cases
constitute part of a larger Study undertaken jointly by WIPO and UNEP on the role ofintellectual property rights in benefit sharing in respect of biological resources and
associated traditional knowledge.  The experiences included in these cases may
provide lessons as to how the effective protection of intellectual property rights can
support the implementation of the CBD with re spect to the sharing of benefits arising
from the use of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge.
(c) Between June 1998 and November 1999, WIPO conducted nine fact-finding missions
(FFMs) to 28 countries in the South Pacific, Southern and Eastern Africa, South Asia,WT/CTE/W/182
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North America, Central America, West Africa, the Arab countries, South America
and the Caribbean.  The FFMs were designed to enable WIPO to gain, first-hand, a
sense of the needs and expectations of TK holders relating to the protection of their
TK.  While the IP needs of TK holders have been referred to in other internationalfora, there has been to date no systematic global exercise by international
organizations to document and assess the IP-related needs of TK holders.  As the
United Nations specialized agency responsible for the promotion of IP, WIPO
undertook the FFMs as part of its study of current approaches to, and future
possibilities for, the protection of the IP rights of holders of TK.
Factual accounts of all the mission activities were transmitted directly to the TK
holders and other informants in the form of interim reports.  The interim reports fromthe nine FFMs are available from the International Bureau of WIPO and on the WIPO
website (<www.wipo.int/traditionalknowledge>).
A general report on all the FFMs has been published in draft form for public
comment until 15 December 2000.  The report identifies the main IP needs and
expectations regarding the protection of TK identified by WIPO during the FFMs.The draft report has been made available for comment electronically on the WIPO
website at <www.wipo.int/traditionalknowledge> and in paper form.  After
December 15, 2000, comments received will be taken into account in producing a
final report which will be published in 2001.
(d) In cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), WI PO organized four regional consultations on the
protection of so-called “expressions of folklore.”  The consultations were designed to
enable representatives of WIPO’s Member States to exchange views, clarify issues,
and provide guidance for WIPO’s future work in relation to the protection of folklore.
The Recommendations, Resolutions and other documents from these Consultationsare available from the International Bureau of WIPO and on the WIPO website
(<www.wipo.int/traditionalknowledge>).
(e) The interdisciplinary nature of the subj ect matter involved made it necessary for
WIPO to participate in other international fora and meetings on subjects such as food
security, agriculture, the environment, indigenous populations, sustainable
development, trade, culture and biological diversity.  These were mostly organized by
intergovernmental agencies within the UN system and certain national, regional andnon-governmental organizations.
III. WIPO, BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND T RADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE:  2000-2001
6. WIPO’s exploratory work in 1998 and 1999 has shown that TK is a rich source of creativity
and innovation.  The issues are complex, however, and in order to achieve better understanding and
promote wider consensus, it is necessary that the work programme for 2000-2001 move beyond issue-identification, and into a phase of addressing basic conceptual problems and testing practical solutions
for the protection of TK.  WIPO’s work programme for the 2000-2001 biennium responds to several
of the needs and expectations identified during 1998 and 1999, and includes, for example, the
following:WT/CTE/W/182
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(a) The development of information materials on options under the existing IP system for the
protection of TK
7. These materials will provide practical information on options for the protection of TK under
the IP system.  The materials will be aimed at two main target groups: TK holders and the national IPoffices responsible for the administration of the IP system in each country.  The materials will form
the basis of WIPO’s TK-related training activit ies, including the national workshops referred to
immediately below.  The same materials will also form the basis of an IP/TK Distance Learning
Course to be offered by WIPO.  The Distance Le arning Program of the WIPO Worldwide Academy
takes full advantage of information technology and the Internet, offering new teaching methods,
specially designed course materials, evaluation tools, tailored means of delivery and expanded
audiences.  Teaching takes place in the virtual environment of the WIPO Worldwide Academy’s website at <http://academy.wipo.int>.  Further information is available at this website.  The materials will
also be used for WIPO Training Workshops on the IP System and the Protection of TK.  The
workshops will provide information and training on the IP system and the protection of TK to TK
holders and other persons at the grass-roots level, and to national IP offices.  In addition to these
workshops, TK protection is now almost invariably included in the programmes for the many training
activities organized by WIPO’s Cooperation for Development Sector.
(b) IP information, training and standards for the documentation of TK
8. This activity would pursue two practical results:  (i) it will allow TK documentation
initiatives to manage IP rights (IPRs) during the TK documentation process, and (ii) it will allow
national IP offices to integrate the TK documentation from those initiatives into their existingprocedures for filing, examining and granting of IPRs under the existing IP system.  For example, by
integrating TK documentation into existing procedures and IP information systems, IP offices could
include TK documentation in their prior art searches when examining applications for patents in
respect of TK-based inventions.  The result would be practical information materials on managing
IPRs during the documentation process, written in a “How To” format and accessible to users with alimited IP background.  The information materials would be applied in practical training workshops
on IPR management for communities and key documentation institutions.  The workshops would seek
to link communities, documentation initiatives and national IP offices so as to initiate cooperation
between IP offices and TK documentation initiatives at the national level.
(c) Studies of actual examples in which TK protection has been sought under the IP system, and
publication of the lessons learned
9. This activity will provide practical information on specific and actual examples in which
indigenous and local communities have taken advantage of, or attempted to use, the IP system to
either protect their TK or to further their own interests in the commercial application and utilization of
their TK.  The output of the activity will include practical information on difficulties and successes
experienced in applying the IP system to TK, lessons learned and divergences between identified
needs of TK holders and the protection provided by the existing IP system.
(d) Feasibility studies on the applicability of customary laws to TK
10. TK holders are subject to both customary and modern legal systems, since their knowledge
constitutes subject matter to which both may apply.  The interfaces, similarities and differences
between customary and modern legal systems require understanding and management.  This activity
would seek ways to manage the relationship between modern and customary understandings of IPRsover TK subject matter.  It would record custom ary law systems and related cultural understandingsWT/CTE/W/182
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relevant for TK protection and draw implications on how the IP system may recognize and use
customary law to manage the relationship with TK holders.
(e) A pilot project on collective acquisition, management and enforcement of IPRs in TK
11. One of the problems in the IP/TK field is the collectivity of creation and ownership of TK.
This activity would specifically address this issue by exploring options for the collective acquisition,
administration and enforcement of IPRs by TK holders’ associations.  It would seek to examine the
capacity of a selected community or TK holder association to acquire, collectively exercise and
enforce all relevant IPRs on behalf of the holders.
IV. THE WIPO INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE ON INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY AND GENETIC RESOURCES, TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND
FOLKLORE
12. Following discussions about intellectual property and genetic resources among WIPO’s
Member States since September 1999, the WIPO General Assembly, at its 26th Session, held in
Geneva from 26 September to 3 October 2000, decided that a distinct body should be established
within WIPO to facilitate discussions among Member States and that, in addition to the issue of
genetic resources, the discussions should also include the results of WIPO’s previous work on therelated fields of traditional knowledge and expressions of folklore.  To this end, the Member States
decided to establish an Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources,
Traditional Knowledge and Folklore.
13. The Intergovernmental Committee will constitute a forum in which discussions may proceed
among Member States on the three primary themes which they identified during their consultations:intellectual property issues that arise in the context of (i) access to genetic resources and benefit
sharing;  (ii) protection of traditional knowledge, whether or not associated with those resources;  and
(iii) the protection of expressions of folklore.
14. The Intergovernmental Committee will be open to all Member States of WIPO.  As is usual in
WIPO bodies, it is proposed that relevant intergovernmental organizations and accreditedinternational and regional non-governmental organizations be invited to participate in an observer
capacity.  It is foreseen that the Committee would hold its first session in the Spring of 2001.
V. CONCLUSION
15. WIPO recognizes that intellectual property rights may be of relevance in the fields of trade as
well as environmental policy.  As the specialized UN-agency responsible for intellectual property
protection, WIPO is well equipped to provide accurate technical information on trade-related as well
as environmental aspects of intellectual property rights.  Since 1998, WIPO’s work has aimed atproducing and providing such information for the relevant stakeholders, particularly regarding the
relevance of intellectual property for biological diversity and traditional knowledge.  On the basis of
written requests, WIPO can provide general information on intellectual property to the Committee on
Trade and Environment.
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