ABSTRACT
Knowledge about genetic resources accumulates daily. Much of it enters the public domain. The public domain is organized in many different forms, which can be ordered according to the degree of commonality, in other words the freedom to insert information into the systems and the freedom to take and use information from them. The commons character of the public knowledge domain contrasts with various kinds of knowledge privatization. The major instruments of privatization are copyright, trade secret protection, patent/breeders’ rights and – a more recent addition – sovereign rights over genetic resources. Privatization means that the producer of knowledge is entitled to control its utilization. According to ruling opinion, this right will reward and stimulate the production of knowledge. Others are concerned, increasingly in recent times, that instead privatization may hinder the progress of research and development.
