Intellectual Property for women of indigenous people

By PPO Abogados

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) organized in Quito, Ecuador, a workshop aimed at training, mentoring and establishing intellectual property tools among women from indigenous peoples and communities located in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The workshop, carried out from November 22 to 25, 2022, is part of a regional program that looks to strengthen the capacities of creative women from indigenous peoples that have projects or knowledge-based ventures.

Many indigenous peoples, local communities and governments seek intellectual property protection for traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) as intangible assets. Such assets can range from traditional medicine and environmental knowledge to art, symbols and music.

For many communities, TCEs, traditional knowledge and associated genetic resources form part of a single integrated heritage. Yet, because TCEs raise some particular legal and policy questions in intellectual property, they receive a distinct focus in many national and regional IP laws and in WIPO’s work.

TCEs can sometimes be protected by existing systems, such as copyright and related rights, geographical indications, appellations of origin and trademarks. For example, contemporary adaptations of folklore are copyrightable, while performances of traditional songs and music may come under the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty and Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances.

In the IP context, traditional cultural expressions of folklore are usually distinguished from TK. TCEs:

-may be considered as the forms in which traditional culture is expressed;
-form part of the identity and heritage of a traditional or indigenous community;
-are passed down from generation to generation.