ABSTRACT
Traditional knowledge (TK), genetic resources (GRs), and traditional cultural expressions expressions of folklore (TCEs) have been the subject of text-based negotiations to develop an international legal instrument by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since October 2000. The circumstances of these negotiations demonstrate some of the underlying structural complexity in reaching agreement in international organizations such as WIPO. This chapter illustrates these problems in the context of the work addressing GRs in WIPO's Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC). The comment concludes that the expansion of WIPO's forum to include a broader engagement among members and a broad range of other non-member stakeholders makes reaching agreement in complex subject areas almost impossible. The IGC was essentially a result of the Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of the Patent Law Treaty in 2000, formally bringing together various discussions within WIPO about GRs, TK, and TCE.
