A Mission to Defend Traditional Knowledge

In a few weeks, negotiators from the group of like-minded countries such as India, Columbia, Peru, and New Zealand will converge on Bali to decide on what "traditional knowledge" is. For over a decade now, the like-minded countries have been trying to do just that but have so far been unable to narrow down their differences and agree to a common definition.

In private, negotiators would tell you that in large part, the developed-countries gang, led by the US, has done its bit to scuttle an agreement. After all, US patent attorneys stand to lose business if countries agree to protect traditional knowledge, genetic resources and traditional cultural expression.