Knowledge for Development

Intellectual property

This dossier contains over 225 annotated links to information on intellectual property (IP) in ACP agriculture. It is intended for ACP policy makers and researchers who are confronted with the complexities of the various international treaties and agreements governing IP in agriculture. These include the WTO Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV, 1991), and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which entered into force on 29 June 2004.

Intellectual property, traditional knowledge and food security in Pacific island countries

by Sue Farran, Professor of Laws, University of Northumbria, UK
The link between food security and intellectual property and innovation may not at first seem obvious says Sue Farran, Professor of Laws. In this article, Farran observes ‘that food security cannot or should not be seen as an isolated concern but as integral to various other contemporary issues concerning Pacific island countries (PICs), especially trade and development, climate change and the movement of people’. According to Farran, the intellectual property regimes which impact directly on food security are shaped by the developed world and primarily serve to protect the interests of corporations. 22/10/2014
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The National Recordal System (NRS) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa will protect, preserve, promote and responsibly exploit South Africa's  indigenous knowledge systems (IKS).  The NRS will document and record IK through the National Indigenous Knowledge Management System (NIKMAS) information and communication  technology platform. It will record African IK in its original oral format, linking it to a complex metadata schema to provide the necessary mechanisms for both positive and defensive (legal)  protection. At present, Riëtte Pretorius, project manager at CSIR, says the system supports IK on African traditional medicine and indigenous foods, and at a later stage could include arts,  crafts and farming practices. The training of community workers is already taking place and documentation centres are being built across the country.     (CSIR, 18/06/2013) 31/07/2013
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Researcher Angelika Hilbeck at the Institute of Integrative Biology of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology looked into the agricultural seed catalogues available to farmers in countries  with different degrees of GM crop adoption (Austria, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland). She and her colleagues estimated how much real-world choice in seeds maize farmers have in each  of the countries. The results show that, between 1995 and 2011, in the countries that did not adopt GM crop (Austria, Germany and Switzerland), actual restrictions and regulations of GM  crops have not decreased seed choices/cultivar availability for farmers. In contrast, they observed that in Spain, which has adopted GM maize, the seed market was more concentrated with  fewer differentiated cultivars on offer: the overall number of maize cultivars declined. The research also plotted the yields over the time period only to note that there was no reduction in yields  in non-adopting countries.(Environmental Sciences Europe 2013, 25:12 doi:10.1186/2190-4715-25-12) 31/07/2013
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By World Intellectual Property Organization, 2009. Indigenous and local communities cherish traditional knowledge (TK) as a part of their cultural identities. The work of the WIPO Intergovernmental committee on intellectual property and genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore (“IGC”) ranges from the international dimension of TK and cooperation with other international agencies, to capacity building and the pooling of practical experience in this complex area. This publication gives an overview of this work, discusses some key concepts and describes various national approaches to protecting TK against misuse or misappropriation. 11/05/2009
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This paper by Chika A. Ezeanya, Director of the African Institute for Research in Indigenous Solutions, Rwanda, explores the continued and increasing patenting and profiting from Africa’s indigenous pharmacopeia by western businesses. It calls for increased involvement of governments, civil society groups, concerned citizens and institutions in the protection of Africa’s indigenous pharmacology, and for the adoption of a culturally oriented and sensitive approach of indigenous medical heritage. Specifically, the ‘domain public payant’, documentation and sui generis (uniqueness in its own characteristics) options are discussed.   http://www.jpanafrican.com/docs/vol6no5/6.5-Ezeanya.pdf   (The Journal of Pan African Studies, 10/2013) 17/12/2013
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Actors in the aquaculture sector face emerging difficulties pertaining to affordable access to improved breeding material and technology, while also securing adequate funding for sustainable breeding programmes. Public ownership or support seems to be important measures to balance these objectives. This is particularly the case during the early phases of implementation and operation of applied aquaculture breeding programs. This study thus investigates how actors in the sector access aquatic genetic material and protect innovations in breeding. It analyses how corporate strategies, technological developments, and international regulatory regimes affect these options. (FNI, 03/2013)  22/05/2013
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This report tells the story of an agreement on access to teff genetic resources in Ethiopia, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use, that was hailed as one of the most advanced of its time. The agreement was seen as a pilot case for the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in terms of access and benefit sharing. The implementation of the agreement failed and as a result, Ethiopia was left with fewer possibilities for generating and sharing the benefits from the use of teff genetic resources. This report provides an in-depth analysis of the course of events with regard to the agreement as well as a related patent on the processing of teff.   http://www.fni.no/abs/publication-50.html   (FNI, 2012)    07/03/2013
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