10 February 2014: The Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) concluded its 26th session with a streamlined draft text on intellectual property and genetic resources, indicating both progress and remaining differences.

Meeting from 3-7 February 2014, in Geneva, Switzerland, the IGC developed a revised consolidated document on intellectual property and genetic resources that will be transmitted to the WIPO General Assembly in September 2014, subject to any amendments on cross-cutting issues to be agreed at the 28th IGC session to be held in July 2014.

The session, the first under the 2014-2015 mandate of the IGC, began with an Ambassadorial/Senior Capital-based Officials meeting to share views on key policy issues relating to the negotiations, to further guide the process. IGC 26 then established an informal expert group that worked to identify the core issues, reduce the number of options and streamline the text. The group comprised approximately 38 experts, with up to six experts per region nominated by the member states, as well as two indigenous experts nominated by indigenous peoples participating in the session. Delegates also engaged in ‘informal informals,’ which involved key delegations in order to arrive at compromise solutions on difficult areas of the negotiations.

The approximately 11-page, streamlined text covers a series of issues, including: definition of main terms, policy objectives, subject-matter of protection, scope of the instrument, disclosure requirements, exceptions and limitations, sanctions and remedies, defensive measures, database search systems, and international cooperation. The session identified “preventing misappropriation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge” as the main policy objective of the proposed international instrument. A provision on mandatory disclosure of the origin of genetic resources used by patent applicants, as well as the range of post-grant sanctions for non-compliance with the disclosure requirement remain unresolved.

The session was preceded by an indigenous panel titled ‘Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources: What is at Stake for Indigenous Peoples?’ with UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, as the keynote speaker. The draft report of IGC 26 will be tabled for adoption at IGC 27, which will be held from 24 March to 4 April 2014, with a focus on traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions. [WIPO Update][IGC 26 Decisions][IISD RS Sources]