This Diplomatic Conference hosted by WIPO, is the final stage of negotiations before the adoption of an international legal instrument. The future instrument aims to “enhance the efficacy, transparency and quality of the patent system”, and “prevent patents from being granted erroneously for inventions that are not novel or inventive with regard to genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources”.
The Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) met in a Special Session in September 2023 and agreed on several revisions to the substantive articles of the negotiating text.
The Preparatory Committee of the Diplomatic Conference approved the necessary modalities of the Diplomatic Conference, including the draft rules of procedure and administrative provisions and final clauses for the instrument.
- The negotiations will start based on a Basic Proposal
- Executive Summary of the text
Frequently asked questions about the Diplomatic Conference
What
Discover what the draft international legal instrument seeks to achieve, what the proposed mandatory patent disclosure requirement for genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge is, and which disclosure requirements already exist in patent law.
Across the ages and around the world, people have depended on genetic resources in their environment to improve their lives. More recently, genetic resources have also been building blocks for many inventions in the life sciences – medicines, climate-smart food crops, and other products that have allowed for massive, population-wide health, climate, and food security gains.
The quest for increased use of genetic resources has raised a concern that some patents are granted for inventions based on those resources and their associated traditional knowledge that do not fulfill patentability requirements, such as novelty and inventiveness.
The Basic Proposal for an "International Legal Instrument Relating to Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources" seeks to, according to the text, "enhance the efficacy, transparency and quality of the patent system with regard to genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources" and help "prevent patents from being granted erroneously for inventions that are not novel or inventive with regards to genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources".
One of the conditions for a patent to be granted and an invention to be protected is the description by the applicants of specific information about their invention in the patent application. Disclosing the invention in detail is a core principle of patent law.
Inventors must explain their invention in sufficient detail so that following the technical explanation, someone with the same level of knowledge can reproduce the invention.
Mandatory disclosure requirements indicate the elements that must appear in the patent application.
A central element of the proposed instrument is a mandatory disclosure requirement for patents relating to genetic resources and their associated traditional knowledge. When innovators file their patent application, they would have to disclose the country of origin or the source of the genetic resource(s) if their invention is materially/directly based on that (those) genetic resource(s).
If the invention is materially/directly based on traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, the innovator would have to disclose the Indigenous Peoples or local community(ies) that provided such knowledge or its source.
Why
Understand why and how the discussions unfolded over almost two decades, and why the Diplomatic Conference is happening in May 2024.
After almost two decades of negotiations, during the 2022 WIPO General Assembly, the organization's governing bodies' annual meeting, member countries decided to fast-track negotiations on genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge by organizing a high-level negotiating event (Diplomatic Conference) to agree on an international agreement no later than 2024.
In the beginning, some 20 years ago, the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) was not working on creating international norms. Many countries then began to push for work on international legal instruments on genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions (folklore). From 2010, WIPO members started to discuss the potential textual content of what could become one or several legal instruments.
After 2012, options for a new patent disclosure of genetic resources and their associated traditional knowledge requirement emerged, and negotiations intensified on this question.
However, it was difficult for negotiators to agree on a consensual text; by 2018, there was a deadlock. In 2019, the then IGC Chair, Ian Goss, took it upon himself to prepare a draft text on genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. Pursuant to the 2022 WIPO General Assembly decision, this text became the basic proposal and will serve as a basis for the upcoming negotiations at the Diplomatic Conference in May 2024.
Who
Find out which countries have already implemented this kind of a disclosure requirement and who could become a party to the new instrument.
As far as we are aware, disclosure requirements related to genetic resources (and often associated traditional knowledge) have as of March 2024 been implemented in 33 countries and regional organizations.
Individual countries: Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Namibia, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Samoa, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, and Zambia) .
Any Member State of WIPO may become a party to the new instrument. Further, the governing body of the instrument, the Assembly, can admit intergovernmental organizations to become parties under several conditions.
How
Learn how the proposed instrument would affect current IP laws, and how it would work for IP offices and applicants.
By introducing a new mandatory requirement in patent applications, the instrument may affect the national IP laws of the countries that will become parties to the instrument.
According to the Basic Proposal, IP offices would be expected to help patent applicants understand how to meet the disclosure requirement and allow them to rectify a failure to include the minimum information. The IP offices, however, would not be obliged to verify the authenticity of the disclosure.
The draft international instrument calls for establishing information systems, such as databases of genetic resources and their associated traditional knowledge, in consultation with Indigenous Peoples and local communities where applicable. Such systems should be accessible to IP offices for search and examination purposes.When the claimed invention in a patent application is materially/directly based on genetic resources, the applicants would have to disclose the country of origin of the genetic resources or their source. If traditional knowledge is associated with the genetic resources, he/she would have to disclose the Indigenous Peoples or local community that provided the traditional knowledge or the source of this traditional knowledge.
If neither information is available, the applicant would have to make a declaration to that effect.
When
Discover all you want to know about the Diplomatic Conference, including where and when. Learn when, if adopted, the new international legal instrument would come into force.
The Diplomatic Conference will take place at WIPO's Headquarters: 34, chemin des Colombettes, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.
According to Article 18 of the Basic Proposal, the new instrument would enter into force three months after 15 countries have ratified it or acceded to it.
Where
Learn where it would be effective, and much more!
The instrument would be effective in all the countries which have ratified it or acceded to it, and implemented it in their national laws, as well as in Member Countries of regional organizations that have ratified or acceded the instrument.
Information on intellectual property, genetic resources, and traditional knowledge:
- Find a full set of information on traditional knowledge
- WIPO General Assembly Decision on the Diplomatic Conference
- Meeting documents
Information on intellectual property, genetic resources, and traditional knowledge:
For delegations attending the Diplomatic Conference
Information on disclosure requirements
- Key Questions on Patent Disclosure Requirements for Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge
- Disclosure Requirements Table
- Report on the Compilation of Materials on Disclosure Regimes Relating to Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge
- Technical Study on Disclosure Requirements in Patent Systems Related to Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge
Video: Patent disclosure requirements for GRs and associated TK