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Abstract
Solutions to the Problem of Misappropriation of Traditional Knowledge: A Study on
the Concept, International Trends and Laws in Foreign Jurisdictions
Aggarin Viriyo*
*Office of Council of State, Specialized sub-committee for legal development, Department for
Development of Traditional and Alternative Medicines, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi 11000,
Thailand.
Corresponding author: i_needu2@hotmail.com; i_needu2@hotmail.co.th
Developing countries are rich in traditional knowledge or wisdom belonging to their local
and traditional communities. The traditional knowledge has so much value that developed coun-
tries come to exploit for their own use in industrial development, either using the knowledge
itself as the foundation for inventions and then gaining intellectual property protection in form
of patent, or using the knowledge about genetic or biological resources to develop a new process
and then acquire intellectual property protection. However, the communities that are the ori-
gins of such traditional knowledge are not informed of the use and intellectual property protec-
tion because the use takes place without the permission from the communities. Therefore, the
developing countries and relevant international communities propose a number of solutions to
this problem. In this study, documentary research was undertaken on the exploitation of tradi-
tional knowledge and the solutions to such a problem, as well as relevant international agree-
ments and laws in Thailand and other countries. This article suggests that the solutions to this
problem include a legal amendment to require the disclosure of traditional knowledge in the
process of patent application and the disclosure must be conditional or mandatory to the patent
application, in line with the laws in other countries. Furthermore, in the meantime, there is a
proposal for the amendment of the TRIPS agreement together with the drafting of a traditional
knowledge protection agreement by the World Intellectual Property Organization, which also
suggests mandating the disclosure of traditional knowledge in the process of patent application.
Keywords: traditional knowledge, exploitation, intellectual property