Centre for Law, Technology and Society

By Prof. Chidi Oguamanam – Between September 19 and 23, 2016, the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) commenced the first of a two-part negotiation over a potential instrument for the effective protection of traditional knowledge (TK), pursuant to its mandate for the 2016-2017 biennium. In the summer, the IGC concluded negotiations on Genetic Resources (GRs) with an advanced draft text on the subject in accordance with the committee’s strategic decision to split its negotiations into three streams: TK, GRs and Traditional Cultural Expression (TCEs) with a view to generating three draft treaty instruments. The tripartite nature of the IGC negotiating documents are without prejudice to their likely future consolidation into a single treaty instrument should the WIPO General Assembly ultimately so decide.

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