GENEVA – The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) member states have agreed on the Organization’s Geneva headquarters as the site of the final leg of negotiations, from May 13-24, 2024, of a proposed treaty relating to intellectual property, genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, according to the official website of the Organization.

The diplomatic conference will cap long-standing negotiations among WIPO member states that have also benefited from inputs from other stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples.

Genetic resources include medicinal plants, agricultural crops, and animal breeds. While genetic resources themselves cannot be directly protected as intellectual property, inventions developed using them can, most often through a patent.

Some genetic resources are also associated with traditional knowledge through their use and conservation by Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities, often over generations. This knowledge is sometimes used in scientific research and, as such, may contribute to the development of a protected invention.

“The decision to convene the diplomatic conference was not only a breakthrough in the complex negotiations that had been underway at WIPO for more than two decades, but a victory for multilateralism. In this spirit of progress, collaboration, and energy, I look forward to WIPO’s member states moving together as one community towards a successful outcome in May next year.” WIPO Director General Daren Tang said.

Last year’s WIPO General Assembly approved the holding of a diplomatic conference and today’s decision by member states in a special preparatory committee set the location and timing for the final-stage treaty negotiation.