WIPO Glossary of Terms
One of the challenges of working in the areas of traditional knowledge (TK) and cultural expressions (TCEs) is not the lack of appropriate terminology, but the diverse meanings and connotations associated with existing terminology. Many of the words used to describe issues in this field have different meanings in different localities with a single language, let alone regions with a variety of languages. Furthermore, since words or phrases have often developed very specific connotations in specific, local contexts, it is often difficult to translate the linguistic context of a word into another language. It is therefore not surprising that different international fora and processes working in the fields of TK and TCEs have adopted diverse definitions.
This short glossary claims neither to resolve these linguistic differences, nor offer a standardized formulation for the use of these terms in the future. It seeks simply to describe how certain key terms have been used in WIPO's work.
Biological Diversity (also Biodiversity)
Article 2 of the 1992
Convention on Biological Diversity defines the term, "biological diversity", often shortened to "biodiversity", as meaning the
"variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems."
Biological Resources
Article 2 of the
Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 defines the term 'biological resources' to include 'genetic resources, organisms or parts thereof, populations, or any other biotic component of ecosystems with actual or potential use or value for humanity'.
Biotechnology
Article 2 of the 1992
Convention on Biological Diversity defines the term "biotechnology" as meaning "
any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use."
Farmers' Rights
According to the
FAO's International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, 'Farmers' Rights' refers to rights held by local and indigenous communities and farmers of all regions to the protection of traditional knowledge relevant to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; the right to equitably participate in sharing benefits arising from the utilisation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; and, the right to participate in making decisions, at the national level, on matters related to the conservation and sustainable use plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (see Article 9.2 of the FAO Treaty).
Genetic Material
Article 2 of the 1992
Convention on Biological Diversity defines the term, "genetic material" as meaning "
any material of plant, animal, microbial or other origin containing functional units of heredity."
Genetic Resources
Article 2 of the 1992
Convention on Biological Diversity defines the term, "
genetic resources" as meaning "genetic material of actual or potential value."
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property refers to property rights in creations of the mind, such as inventions, industrial designs, literary and artistic works, symbols, and names and images. The notion "intellectual property" is defined in Article 2(viii) of the Convention establishing WIPO to include rights relating to:
- literary, artistic and scientific works;
- performances of performing artists, sound recordings, and broadcasts;
- inventions in all fields of human endeavor;
- scientific discoveries;
- industrial designs;
- trademarks, service marks, and commercial names and designations;
- protection against unfair competition; and,
- all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.
This final phrase ("all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields") makes it clear that "intellectual property" is a broad concept, and can include productions and matter not forming part of the existing categories of intellectual property, provided they result "from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields."
Intellectual Property is generally divided into two main categories:
- Industrial Property, which covers patents, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, trade names, geographical indications (indications of source or appellations of origin), and the repression of unfair competition (Article 1.2, Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, 1883);
- Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works, such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, computer software, databases, and architectural designs. Related rights (also referred to as "neighboring rights") include the rights of performing artists in their performances, producers of sound recordings in their sound recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television broadcasts.
Additionally,
plant varieties can be protected under the IP-related system of plant breeders’ rights.
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
Article 2 of the
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture defines "plant genetic resources for food and agriculture" as meaning, "...
any genetic material of plant origin of actual or potential value for food and agriculture."
Sui Generis
Sui generis is a Latin phrase meaning "of its own kind". A
sui generis system, for example, is a system specifically designed to address the needs and concerns of a particular issue. Calls for a
"sui generis system" for TK protection are sometimes heard. This could mean a system entirely distinct from the current intellectual property (IP) system, or alternatively a system with new IP, or IP-like, rights.
There are already several examples of
sui generis IP rights, such as plant breeders' rights (as reflected in the International Convention on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, 1991 ("the UPOV Convention")) and the IP protection of integrated circuits (as reflected in the Treaty on Intellectual Property in respect of Integrated circuits, 1989 ("The Washington Treaty")).
In the field of traditional cultural expressions (TCEs), the WIPO-UNESCO Model Provisions [
PDF] for National Laws on the Protection of Expressions of Folklore Against Illicit Exploitation and other Prejudicial Actions, 1982 provide
sui generis protection for expressions of folklore/TCEs.
