Who Owns Traditional Knowledge

The protection of traditional knowledge is among the important intellectual property rights issues to be resolved in the TRIPS Council during the Doha round of WTO negotiations, as acknowledged in the Doha Ministerial Declaration. The question “Who owns Traditional Knowledge ?” assumes high significance because novelty thresholds for patentability vary from country to country, and, patentability under TRIPS does not require prior informed consent of countries or communities from where organic and informational resources are procured.