PER: Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad On-line version ISSN
1727-3781 ANDRZEJEWSKI, A. Traditional knowledge and patent
protection: conflicting views on international patent standards.
PER [online]. 2010, vol.13, n.4, pp. 94-125. ISSN 1727-3781. As
diseases continue to spread around the globe, pharmaceutical and
biotech companies continue to search for new and better drugs to
treat them. Most of these companies have realised that useful
compounds for these purposes may be found in the natural
resources that indigenous and local communities use. And yet,
even though the importance of these biological resources to
global health and economic livelihood is well recognised, the
legal ownership and control of this traditional knowledge is
still very controversial. This article undertakes a comparative
analysis of American and European, as well as international
legal regulations on patent law and traditional knowledge. Key
questions include: What is traditional knowledge? How have the
national patent laws of the