Daily Current Affairs-UPSC – 27 May 2024 : Treaty  on WIPO

Why in News ?  The Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge was adopted at the Diplomatic Conference held under the aegis of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at its headquarters in Geneva, between May 13 and May 24, 2024. This is the 27th treaty under WIPO and the first in the last 10 years.

Key points of the treaty:

• It is the first treaty that deals with genetic resources and traditional knowledge held by Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities.
• The treaty would ensure that whenever there is a claimed invention on genetic resources, the applicants will have to disclose the country of origin or source of the genetic resources.
• The applicant would also have to disclose the Indigenous Peoples or local community who provided the traditional knowledge, in case the patent is based on traditional knowledge.

How it is important for India?

• The treaty is important to India as the country holds 7-8 per cent of global biodiversity and a rich repertoire of knowledge based on these genetic resources.
• Under current laws, while genetic resources themselves cannot be patented, inventions developed using them can be protected.

What are concerns still not resolved?

• The final text still does not address the problem of the biopiracy of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge using patents, even though concern has been raised through the years.