After over 20 years of negotiations, the international community succeeded in adopting a new international treaty on intellectual property, genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge in the small hours of 24 May 2024 in Geneva.
This treaty regulates the disclosure of the origin of genetic resources and the associated traditional knowledge in patent applications. Switzerland already has a disclosure requirement in its Patents Act (Art. 49a PatA) and was therefore heavily involved in this WIPO project over the years.
The conclusion of the negotiations was celebrated as a major success, particularly by the Indigenous Peoples in attendance and the biodiversity-rich countries of the southern hemisphere. For the first time, the rights of indigenous peoples and of countries to genetic resources are recognised in an intellectual property agreement.
From Switzerland’s perspective, the treaty can also be considered a success. Firstly, the concept of the disclosure requirement in the new WIPO treaty largely corresponds to the domestic disclosure requirement for genetic resources and the associated traditional knowledge in the Swiss Patents Act. Secondly, the new treaty contains provisions which support innovations involving genetic resources and the associated traditional knowledge and which will also contribute to better protection of the resources and knowledge.
The disclosure requirement was therefore conceived as a kind of transparency measure, which patent applicants can easily fulfil without additional effort. Furthermore, it was also established that the possible sanctions for failure to comply with the disclosure requirement will not invalidate the conferred patent rights, except in cases of false information or fraudulent intent.
The IPI will now analyse the treaty in detail. Switzerland has one year to sign the treaty and then to ratify it as appropriate.
