Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore

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The Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC, or IGC-GRTKF) is in charge of negotiating one or several international legal instruments (treaty) to protect traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and genetic resources in relation with intellectual property,^[1] thus bridging existing gaps in international law.^[2][3][4] The IGC is convened in Geneva by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and has been meeting regularly since 2001.^[5]

Based on part of IGC's work,^[6] the WIPO GRATK Treaty on patents, genetic resources, and associated traditional knowledge was adopted in May 2024.^[7]

The IGC convenes an Indigenous panel at every meeting, and has created the WIPO Voluntary Fund for Member States to fund the active participation and involvement of indigenous communities and civil society stakeholders.^[8]

A number of documents have been issued to guide the works of the IGC, including a series of Background brief documents, as well as guidelines and other information documents.

The IGC has also developed draft international legal instruments on traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and genetic resources.

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office,

Since 2009, the WIPO IGC has been engaged in separate text-based negotiations on (1) an international legal instrument for the protection of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge and (2) an international legal instrument for traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.^[9]

The IGC was established in 2001 by the General Assembly of WIPO, which reviews, updates, and extends the mandate of the IGC every 2 years at the Assembly's September meetings.^[10][11]

The IGC had a first diplomatic crisis in 2003, as "the enormity of its task was becoming clearer, as was the gulf in expectations among states as to the IGC's overall purpose and anticipated outcomes."^[12] The crisis lasted until 2009, when WIPO Assembly "agreed on a much-strengthened mandate" for the IGC, asking it to draft a legal instrument towards the convening of a Diplomatic Conference to adopt one or several treaties.^[12]

Since 2010, the mandate of the IGC has remained mostly unchanged: to conclude a consensual text which would bridge the gaps between the numerous existing international legal instruments provide some, but insufficient protection on either traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, or genetic resources (UNDRIP, Convention on Biological Diversity, Nagoya Protocol, FAO plant treaty, UNESCO conventions on culture and intangible heritage, etc.), none of which include explicit protections for indigenous peoples and local communities.^[1][12]

IGC's negotiations were suspended in 2020 because of the pandemic of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, resuming in 2022.^[12] That same year, the IGC agreed to move on to the next steps of treaty negotiation, and WIPO agreed to convene a Diplomatic Conference by 2024 to consider a draft treaty that the Committee had been working on.^[13]

Between 13 and 24 May 2024, WIPO convened a Diplomatic Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.^[14] During the Conference, delegates finalized the text of the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (often referred to by its acronym "GRATK"^[15][16]) which was adopted in the night of Thursday 23 to Friday 24 May 2024, and opened for signature the 24 May in the afternoon, at the WIPO headquarter in Geneva. According to WIPO,

This is the first WIPO Treaty to address the interface between intellectual property, genetic resources and traditional knowledge and the first WIPO Treaty to include provisions specifically for Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities. The Treaty, once it enters into force with 15 contracting parties, will establish in international law a new disclosure requirement for patent applicants whose inventions are based on genetic resources and/or associated traditional knowledge.^[7]

The GRATK Treaty includes a provision in Article 8 for its extension "to other areas of intellectual property and to derivatives and addressing other issues arising from new and emerging technologies that are relevant for the application of this Treaty, four years after the entry into force of this Treaty."^[17]

In addition to the GRATK Treaty, the IGC is planning to develop a distinct legal instrument relating to Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions (folklore).

The following step is planned for the 49th IGC session on November 2024, with the goal to:

Undertake negotiations on TK and/or TCEs with a focus on addressing unresolved and cross-cutting issues and considering options for a draft legal instrument(s)^[18]

• Official website of the IGC
  • Background brief: Origins, rationale and achievements of the IGC (available also in Arabic, Chinese, French, Português, Russian, and Spanish)
• Official website of the Diplomatic Conference on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources
• Wendland, Wend (February 2022). International negotiations on Indigenous knowledge to resume at WIPO: a view of the journey so far and the way ahead. WIPO Magazine, Article 001.