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ARTICLE · 27 NOVEMBER 2012

Non-Traditional Protection for Traditional Culture

Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
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Aboriginal traditions, cultural practices and skills are guarded from misinterpretation and degradation by being carefully and respectfully handed down from generation to generation.

CanadaGovernment, Public Sector
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
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Aboriginal traditions, cultural practices and skills are guarded from misinterpretation and degradation by being carefully and respectfully handed down from generation to generation. While this keeps those Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCEs) alive, it doesn't necessarily protect them from inappropriate use. However, there may be a way to further protect TCEs through trade-mark law.

The World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) defines TCEs as "music, art, designs, names, signs and symbols, performances, architectural forms, handicrafts and narratives". TCEs can refer to knowledge that is sacred and ancient, or skills and practices that have been handed down generationally. But can TCEs be trade-marked?

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