Summary of IGC 39
March 25, 2019
WIPO’s Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) concluded a week-long session on March 22, 2019. This was the fifth session under the current IGC mandate for 2018-2019 and it addressed traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.
An ad hoc expert group on traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions met on March 17, 2019, to address specific legal, policy or technical issues. It was co-chaired, in their personal capacities, by Ms. Sharon Le Gall (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) and Mr. Chidi Oguamanam (Professor of Law, University of Ottawa, Canada), who reported to the IGC plenary as to the results of the ad hoc expert group’s work.
IGC 39 was chaired by Mr. Ian Goss of Australia, with Mr. Jukka Liedes of Finland and Mr. Faizal Chery Sidharta of Indonesia as Vice-Chairs. Participants from 94 countries and 28 observers attended the session.
Plenary, contact groups and informals on Agenda Item 7 (“Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions”)
On Agenda Item 7, the IGC requested Mr. Paul Kuruk (Ghana) and Ms. Lilyclaire Bellamy (Jamaica) to act as “Facilitators”. Following the discussions of the ad hoc expert group, and the discussions by the IGC’s plenary, in “contact groups” (each comprising around 15 experts, including an indigenous expert) and during “informals” (which also included indigenous experts), the Facilitators presented two Rev. 2 documents to the plenary on March 22, 2019. The Plenary agreed that “The Protection of Traditional Knowledge: Draft Articles Rev. 2” and “The Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions: Draft Articles Rev. 2” as at the close of the session on March 22, 2019, be transmitted to IGC 40, in accordance with the IGC’s mandate for 2018-2019 and the work program for 2019. The session’s work on traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions was informed by an informal note circulated in advance by the IGC’s Chair, and updated draft gap analyses on traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions prepared by the Secretariat.
Previously submitted documents from some Member States were re-submitted for consideration by IGC 39.
Work on these themes will continue at the IGC’s next session, IGC 40, taking place in June 2019. IGC 40 will also take stock of progress made by the IGC in 2018 and 2019 and make a recommendation to the 2019 General Assembly
The decisions and all the documents of the session are available online.
Voluntary fund
The Government of Canada announced that it will be contributing 25,000 Canadian dollars to the WIPO Voluntary Fund for Accredited Indigenous and Local Communities.
The IGC Chair called upon other members and all interested public and private entities to contribute to the Fund.
Indigenous panel
An indigenous panel, which addressed “Draft Articles on Intellectual Property and Traditional Knowledge/Traditional Cultural Expressions: Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ Perspectives on Subject Matter and Scope of Protection”, was held on Monday morning, March 18, 2019.
Side events
Three side events were organized in the margins of IGC 39:
- A side event, addressing “Protecting, Preserving and Promoting Indigenous Languages: International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL2019)”, co‑organized by UNESCO and WIPO;
- A side event, screening a film, entitled “Flight of the Condor: A Letter, a Song and the Story of Traditional Cultural Expressions”, organized by the University of Iceland; and
- A side event, addressing “Update on Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge under the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Nagoya Protocol”, organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Report
The initial draft report of IGC 39 will be prepared and circulated by May 17, 2019.