Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property

Biotechnological inventions are sometimes based upon the traditional knowledge of indigenous communities about the beneficial properties of plants and animals. Some institutions have adopted the uniqueness of traditional knowledge approach, which maintains that the indigenous communities have sui generis rights to a share of the profits from these inventions. Others have adopted the protection of inventive steps approach, which maintains that the inventors are entitled to the full profits from the invention if it involves a non-obvious and novel inventive step. The article analyzes this debate at the Convention on Biological Diversity, at the World Intellectual Property Organization, and at the World Trade Organization. It concludes that the adherents of the uniqueness of traditional knowledge approach have not justified their claims.