Australia shows backing for significant Intellectual Property Treaty concerning Indigenous Knowledge
The treaty mandates that patent applicants must disclose the origins of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge in their applications.
The recently signed Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources, and Associated Traditional Knowledge by members of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is expected to benefit Australian First Nations peoples by requiring patent applicants to divulge the origins of their traditional knowledge.
Signed in Geneva, Switzerland, the agreement provides legal recognition for Indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge in the international intellectual property system.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong stated, “First Nations Australians have a long history of innovation. This groundbreaking treaty will acknowledge Indigenous peoples’ contributions in the international intellectual property system for the first time.”
Ms. Wong, Trade Minister Don Farrell, and Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney emphasized that the treaty will enhance the recognition and protection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ traditional knowledge in Australia.
Meanwhile, Ms. Burney affirmed that the government will continue to support initiatives aiming to acknowledge Indigenous intellectual property rights.
According to WIPO, genetic resources encompass resources found in medicinal plants, agricultural crops, and animal breeds that are linked to traditional knowledge through their utilization and preservation by Indigenous peoples and local communities across generations.
Current Legal Frameworks Inadequate to Safeguard Indigenous Knowledge IP
In a submission to the consultation published in April 2019 by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), researchers Lisa Strelein and Clare Barcham highlighted that existing legislative frameworks do not adequately address Indigenous knowledge.
The researchers proposed 10 measures necessitating a comprehensive government approach to safeguard Indigenous knowledge.
They recommended utilizing collective or certification trademarks, geographical indications (GIs), standardizing research protocols and guidelines, promoting standard research and commercialization agreements, requiring free, prior, and informed consent for Australian government-funded research programs, establishing a national database of traditional knowledge and genetic resources, demanding the disclosure of genetic resource origins in patent applications, providing training and legal support to Indigenous communities, preventing registration of offensive trademarks and designs, creating a culturally significant words and images database, and enforcing consent requirements.
Ms. Strelein and Ms. Barcham acknowledged the challenge of educating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities about intellectual property rights and the potential implications of engaging in licensing or IP processes.
They suggested developing targeted campaigns to raise awareness among Indigenous communities about their rights and facilitating their participation in intellectual property processes.
