Protecting Traditional Knowledge : Can Intellectual Property Rights Help?

Traditional knowledge (TK) is the intellectual creativity of indigenous peoples and local communities developed over generations through close observations of nature and experimentation. In essence it is the knowledge, know-how, skills and practices that have been developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community, and the people in the community are so deeply and completely imbedded in that milieu that it is forming their cultural and/or spiritual identity. It is so completely encompassing the lives of the people that it can be found in a wide variety of contexts, including: agricultural, scientific, technical, ecological and medicinal knowledge as well as biodiversity-related knowledge. TK of indigenous civilizations provides enormous benefits for life-style management, preventive health care systems and state-of-the-art technology for humanity as a whole. Unfortunately, legal systems have not recognized TK and not given due respect for its direct and indirect contributions to the development of modern science and technology so far. This paper unfolds various dimensions in which TK is sought to be protected under the modern legal and economic systems. It probes into the possibilities of TK being protected under intellectual property rights or alternative mechanisms yet to be created. This paper also analyses the provisions of Convention on Biological Diversity, Nagoya Protocol and the exclusive involvement of World Intellectual Property Rights Organization (WIPO) to protect genetic resources, TK and traditional cultural expressions