UNCTAD and German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) concluded a blended learning course on the interface between biodiversity and intellectual property rights, in cooperation with Indonesia's Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights (DGIPR) and the ASEAN Secretariat, and funded by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The objective of the blended learning course is to promote better coherence on the preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and enhance understanding of the interface between the access and benefit sharing and the intellectual property regimes.
The conservation of biodiversity and its sustainable use through arrangements for fair and equitable benefit sharing demands a systematic response at international, regional, national and sub-national levels by a myriad of actors.
The Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity laid down the principles for Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits (ABS) Arising from their Utilization. The access and benefit sharing system entails the greatest interface between intellectual property rights and biodiversity issues, a topic that UNCTAD's Intellectual Property Programme has been conducting research on since 2005.
A total of 21 participants from the ASEAN region, covering Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand participated in the blended learning course. The participants represent national access and benefit sharing offices, environment and science and technology agencies, intellectual property offices and civil society.
The opening workshop of the blended learning course on 19-20 September 2012 had covered an introduction to the Convention on Biodiversity, the Nagoya Protocol and other relevant international instruments, as well as intellectual property rights.
During the ten-week distance learning participants covered:
- The International Policy and Regulatory Environment
- Disclosure Requirements
- Mechanisms Beyond Disclosure
- Traditional Knowledge
- Distinctive Signs and Geographical Indications
- Access and Benefit Sharing, Intellectual Property and Private Contract Law
Upon the completion of the distance learning, participants were brought together on 10-12 December 2012 for a closing workshop that reviewed the modules covered by the distance learning.
The course concluded with a multi-stakeholder role-play exercise to negotiate a material transfer agreement over biological resources.
