Peru presents in APEC a virtual platform for protecting traditional knowledge

By Francisco Espinosa Reboa

Experts from the Peruvian IP Office presented the country as a leader in protecting indigenous peoples' collective knowledge. The presentation was last month during APEC Vietnam 2017, the year-long hosting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

In Ho Chi Minh the Intellectual Property Rights Experts' Group of APEC discussed the protection of the ancestral knowledge of Peruvian indigenous peoples, in order to preserve and defend them against misappropriation by third parties.

Members of the National Institute for the Defense of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) of Peru stated that guidelines for protection are already in place in the country through Law No. 27.811 for Protection of the Collective Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples related to Biological Resources. They also explained a new project that looks to run a virtual platform linking owners of the collective knowledge of indigenous peoples with potential third party users such as universities and research centers.

Established in 1989, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation s a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.