Summary of IGC 45

WIPO’s Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) concluded its 45^th session on December 9, 2022. It addressed traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs).

An ad hoc expert group on TK and TCEs met on December 4, 2022, to address specific legal, policy and technical issues related to TK and TCEs. It was chaired, in their personal capacity, by Mr. Anthony Kakooza (Associate Professor of Law, Uganda Christian University, Uganda) and Ms. Edwina Lewis (Director of Policy and International Affairs, IP Australia, Australia), who reported to the IGC plenary on the results of the ad hoc expert group’s work.

IGC 45 was chaired by Ms. Lilyclaire Bellamy of Jamaica, with Mr. Jukka Liedes of Finland, Mr. Yonah Seleti of South Africa and Mr. Felipe Cariño of the Philippines as Vice-Chairs.

Plenary on Agenda Item 6 (“Traditional Knowledge/Traditional Cultural Expressions”)

The IGC requested Mr. Paul Kuruk (Ghana) and Ms. Thea Seferovic (Australia) to act as “Facilitators”. Following the discussions at the IGC’s plenary and an open-ended contact group, the Facilitators presented to the plenary a revision of “The Protection of Traditional Knowledge: Draft Articles – Facilitators’ Rev.” and a revision of “The Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions: Draft Articles – Facilitators’ Rev.” on December 9, 2022. The IGC decided to transmit the revised texts to IGC 46 for further consideration. During the week, issue-specific informal discussions were held, chaired by one Vice-Chair, Mr. Felipe Cariño. The results of these discussions were reported to the plenary.

Ms. Lilyclaire Bellamy, the IGC Chair, prepared a non-paper of the zero draft of a Chair’s Text of a Draft International Legal Instrument relating to Intellectual Property and Traditional Knowledge/Traditional Cultural Expressions. The document is available online in six languages.

Discussion on Agenda Item 7 (“Establishment of an Ad Hoc Expert Group(s)”)

The mandate of the IGC for the biennium 2022/2023 provides that the IGC “may establish ad hoc expert group(s) to address a specific legal, policy or technical issue”, and “the results of the work of such group(s) will be submitted to the IGC for consideration”.

The Plenary agreed that an ad hoc expert group on traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions be organized on February 26, 2023, prior to IGC 46.

The decisions and all the documents of the session are available online.

Indigenous peoples and local communities’ participation

WIPO facilitated a preparatory meeting of the Indigenous Caucus (the meeting is referred to as the “Indigenous Consultative Forum”) on the Sunday before the session began, December 4, 2022, in a hybrid format. Additionally, the Indigenous Caucus organized daily meetings during the session and met separately with the IGC Chair and with Member State delegates. The WIPO Secretariat continued to fund secretarial services (secretariat, interpretation and translation) for indigenous peoples and local communities at the session, provided by the Documentation Centre for Indigenous Peoples (Docip).

With the previous contribution of Germany to the WIPO Voluntary Fund, two indigenous representatives will be funded to attend IGC 46 from February 27 to March 3, 2023. The WIPO Voluntary Fund will run out of money after IGC 46.

Indigenous panel

An indigenous panel, which addressed ““Customary Laws, Traditional Knowledge/Traditional Cultural Expressions and Intellectual Property”, was held on Monday morning.

Side event

The WIPO Traditional Knowledge Division organized a side-event on supporting community enterprises promoted by women entrepreneurs from indigenous peoples and local communities from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Please visit the website for more information or contact us.