Piracy Of Traditional Knowledge: Urgent Need For Equitable Solutions

We all identify with our heritage, homes, cultures and traditions. None of us would be happy to see the same misappropriated or exploited by another, lest we lose our identity or claim to what makes us unique.

Traditional knowledge (TK) represents the know-how, skills and practices developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community. Still, unlike most other forms of intangible cultural heritage, such as rituals and spiritual beliefs, TK can clash damagingly with modern legal systems, finding itself at loggerheads with national Intellectual Property (IP) frameworks. The potentiality and the ethics of a research company receiving a patent that relies on TK to outline the direction taken by R&D is the cause of impassioned debate over how the IP system regards indigenous peoples.