SciDev.Net

The past decade has seen the development and, in some cases, adoption of national legislation to protect indigenous knowledge (IK) in certain countries and regions. Manuel Ruiz identifies and analyses the issues raised by the best-known IK protection laws and policies.

Recent years have seen rising interest in the commercial exploitation of indigenous knowledge. But there are serious concerns over who benefits from this knowledge. Anju Sharma puts this debate into context by describing how the issue is being played out at the global level.

A growing number of critics of 'bioprospecting' complain that companies often fail to adequately compensate holders of traditional knowledge, and that patents on products developed in this way are actually a form of intellectual piracy.