PROTECTION OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PERUVIAN CASE

Abstract

Indigenous peoples, in their territories, have harbored a great variety of wealth, not only material, but also intellectual, developing and conserving knowledge for centuries that have allowed them to survive and overcome critical contexts such as health. Within this intellectual property we find the knowledge of traditional medicine, whose legal protection is associated with the genetic resources from which they come. In this context, events in which large industries have accessed this knowledge and have patented it as their own, thus depriving its original collective authors, has motivated efforts from the international community and from the States to regulate and articulate protection networks and mechanisms. Along these lines, this article seeks to address this situation by conceptually developing the regulation regarding intellectual property, its protection, the object, scope and manifestations thereof by indigenous peoples and the role that WIPO has played for its preservation. Likewise, the additional efforts that have been made by the international community in order to enhance its protection and the challenges of scientific progress and the not always effective regulatory regulation will be identified.