25 Years in the Making: The WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Goss, Ian
刊物名称：
HARVARD INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL
ISSN/ISSBN：
0017-8063; 2153-2494
发表日期：
2025
页码：
35-74
关键词：
摘要：
A historical and continuing concern of developing countries, Indigenous Peoples, and Local Communities is the misappropriation and misuse of their genetic and cultural resources. In 2000, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) established an Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) to address these concerns. Almost a quarter of a century later on May 24, 2024 WIPO member states concluded a binding Treaty on Intellectual capped the IGC's longstanding efforts to establish norms for the international protection of genetic resources and associated cultural assets. Unquestionably, the conclusion of the Treaty reaffirms and further enhances a sustained, long-term effort of a broad coalition of states and various stakeholders toward the rebalancing of the global intellectual property system anchored in the 1994 World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Critically, the Treaty is the first WIPO agreement that explicitly acknowledges Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. This Article provides a first-hand account of the long and intricate pathway towards the adoption of the Treaty, illuminates and briefly analyzes the considerable challenges encountered during the negotiations that preceded its conclusion, and draws forward-looking lessons relevant to, most notably, the ongoing IGC negotiations on traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions. These lessons highlight the fundamental importance of, in particular, (1) a champion to lead and drive the negotiations; (2) a negotiating environment and processes that facilitate a shared understanding of diverse and often incongruent policy positions; (3) a negotiating strategy that recognizes the importance of timing and builds support behind a text that appropriately balances the interests of a critical mass of member states and stakeholders; (4) an incremental approach towards negotiations on complex policy issues; and (5) a recognition that all negotiations are underpinned by personal relationships that depend on trust and respect.