Technical Study on Disclosure Requirements in Patent Systems Related to Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge

The WIPO Technical Study on Patent Disclosure Requirements Related to Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge concerns requirements in patent law systems to disclose information about genetic resources and traditional knowledge relevant to patented inventions. It was prepared by WIPO as part of the work program of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore. The immediate context for this study was a request of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at its sixth meeting in The Hague from April 7 to 19, 2002 (Decision VI/24C). The preparation of the study was based on responses to a questionnaire circulated to the Member States of WIPO. The Technical Study was made available to the seventh meeting of the COP in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from February 9 to 20, 2004, as document UNEP/CBD/COP/7/INF/17.