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WIPO Hosts a Roundtable on Intellectual Propertyand Indigenous Peoples

Geneva, August 6, 1998
Press Updates UPD/1998/30

Representatives of indigenous groups and communities met on July 23 and 24, 1998, for the first-ever Roundtable discussion hosted by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on intellectual property and indigenous peoples. This new initiative brought together some 200 representatives of indigenous groups from various regions of the world: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the South Pacific. Representatives from governments of WIPO member States and selected inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were also present.

In his opening address, Mr. Roberto Castelo, Deputy-Director General of WIPO, stated that the Roundtable was "intended as a forum for indigenous peoples to share experiences and aspirations concerning the protection of traditional knowledge, innovations and culture by means of intellectual property".

This Roundtable discussion was an activity under a new program of WIPO. The program was approved by the member States of WIPO last March. The program is designed, among others, to investigate the needs and expectations of certain groups which, for a variety of reasons, have not had full exposure or access to the intellectual property system. It is within this framework that WIPO organized the Roundtable to explore the question of intellectual property in relation to indigenous peoples, local communities and holders of traditional knowledge.

Following brief explanations of the existing intellectual property system by WIPO officials, a number of statements were made by representatives of indigenous groups, local communities and holders of traditional knowledge. Presentations on current efforts and initiatives to protect traditional knowledge were also made by a number of experts.

Representatives of indigenous groups called on WIPO to organize roundtable discussions on this subject on a regular basis. Participants also expressed their support for the full and effective participation of representatives of indigenous groups in those WIPO activities relating to access and use of the intellectual property system by indigenous peoples.

WIPO will be undertaking a series of activities related to this question throughout the 1998-1999 biennium. Such activities will include fact-finding missions to areas with significant indigenous populations and substantial bodies of traditional knowledge; pilot projects related to documentation of traditional knowledge formations; and a study of how information technology can facilitate the protection and conservation of traditional knowledge.

These activities will be undertaken in partnership with WIPO member States, relevant sister organizations within the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with appropriate expertise and experience. This program, of which the Roundtable is an integral part, is designed to provide information on ways in which the intellectual property system may better serve the needs of indigenous peoples, local communities and holders of traditional knowledge.

For more detailed information, please contact the Global Intellectual Property Issues Division at WIPO:

Tel: 338 93 19
Fax: 338 81 20
E-mail: richard.owens@wipo.int

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