ABSTRACT
Indigenous and traditional cultural production and knowledges present commercial potential in the context of international trade, and particular cultural and social value that is specific to local communities. In the past, the appropriation of that knowledge, deemed “natural” and for the benefit of all, was justified on the basis that such knowledge was not necessarily comprehended as creative or personal, as it were, within the dominant legal and social discourse.2 However, recently the denial of “ownership” has been refuted and calls have been made for the protection of that knowledge, not only as a matter of property, but also, and more importantly as a matter of intrinsic importance to the dignity and cohesion of traditional and Indigenous communities. Inevitably, those calls seem to resonate within intellectual property systems, informed particularly by the potential value of trade in traditional knowledge.
