Recent Practical Experiences and Emerging Technologies in Relation to Genetic Resources / Traditional Knowledge

As we have introduced in our earlier webinar held on June 7, 2021, the identification and utilisation of genetic and other biological resources has come to assume an increasingly important role in modern innovation across a wide range of fields. As a source of information, inspiration and invention, genetic resources include a broad and varied range of subject matter, including microorganisms, plant varieties, animal breeds, genetic sequences, nucleotide and amino acid sequence information, traits, molecular events, plasmids, and vectors. In the modern genetic age, such resources have enabled inventions from treatments to cure blindness through gene editing, to crops imbued with drought resistant traits, to the range of advanced COVID-19 vaccines all developed with the use of genetic technology and genetic resources. Intellectual property rights, in particular patents, very frequently cover the innovations derived from genetic resources (GR), GR is related to biological diversity, Traditional Knowledge (TK), and respect for and the preservation thereof are often interrelated, especially a range of international instruments, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Nagoya Protocol.

The Standing Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Traditional Knowledge (IP and GRTCETK) of AIPPI, as well as the Standing Committee on TRIPS, have been studying issues related to the intersection of IP with the frameworks that have been established around the use of Genetic Resources.

In the first webinar of a series on genetic resources, we explored what GRs are, their relevance to Intellectual Property, the competing policy imperatives that form the backdrop to the economic exploitation of genetic resources, the international frameworks that govern are intended to govern access to and sharing of benefits from the utilisation of GRs, and the practical challenges that lie in the way of their implementation.

In the second seminar on the subject, organized by the AIPPI IP and GRTCETK Standing Committee, we will hold a more in-depth discussion of the practical issues in working with GRs and implementing and complying with the international access and benefit sharing frameworks, with perspectives from public body stakeholders in Asia and Latin America.  Particularly, the implementation status of the Nagoya Protocol and ABS guidelines in a user country will be introduced and some examples of incidents in the Asian region and the legal situation in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and other countries will be discussed in connection with the Nagoya Protocol and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

This panel aims to share practical experiences, related to the access to Genetic Resources in different jurisdictions based on legal requirements. They will explore cases on Bio-Innovation, as well as the Emerging Tendencies on Genetics.

The webinar will be moderated by Dr. Takeshi S. Komatani, Head of the GR/TK Subcommittee of the AIPPI Standing Committee on IP and GRTCETK and feature guest speakers Dr. Thiago Falda, President of the Brazilian Association of Bioinnovation, and Dr. Suzuki, Mutsuaki, Director of National Institute of Genetics (Research Organization of Information and Systems). They will be joined by Mr. Martin Michaus, Chair of the AIPPI Standing Committee IP and GRTK.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions.

SPEAKERS