Intellectual property rights and the development of an herbal medicine industry

ABSTRACT

Tacit knowledge, also known as know-how, experience and trade secrets, remains valuable as long as it is controlled and not disseminated. Once knowledge is revealed to all and sundry, it becomes explicit knowledge and then becomes difficult to control. The intellectual property rights system has evolved to protect some forms of new expressed creations of the human intellect. The system is intended to allow the creators to retain some control over the dissemination of their expressed knowledge. Specifically, intellectual property laws allow the creators to prevent others from using their creations for specific times to enable them to recoup their research and development expenses, enjoy some returns and encourage further innovation. Theses protectable forms of new explicit knowledge include copyright and related rights, patents, trademarks, utility certificates, industrial designs, geographical indications, layout designs (topographies) of integrated circuits and new plant varieties. The emphasis however, is on new expressed knowledge. Traditional knowledge tends to be knowledge that is held by several persons or a community and has been in the public domain for several years. Intellectual property also vests ownership in a person or persons, a company or some legal entity. Community held knowledge presents a challenge to conventional intellectual property systems. Some countries have tried various mechanisms to address areas for which new intellectual property systems are currently being developed (AU)