New legal framework will protect knowledge of indigenous peoples

By Orpan

The Bolivian Congress is working on a new legal framework that better protects Intellectual Property in the country, including the defense of the knowledge of indigenous peoples. The expected legislation will replace the Law on Industrial Privileges of 1916, the Law on Industrial Trademarks and Registries of 1918 and the Commercial Code of 1975.

The Minister of Justice and Institutional Transparency, Héctor Arce, explained to newspaper La Razón that "national Intellectual Property legislation has become obsolete and, therefore, the challenge is to update it in continuity to international standards, under the modern legal framework that establishes the Decisions of the Andean Community (CAN)". The topic was discussed in June 1 during a seminar on Intellectual Property organized by CAN in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz.

The knowledge of indigenous peoples, which in many cases is shared by the member countries of the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru), is often used without permission by third parties, through the direct theft of ideas and without paying copyright.