Visser, Coenraad --- "Culture, traditional knowledge, and trademarks: a view from the South" [2008] ELECD 179; in Dinwoodie, B. Graeme; Janis, D. Mark (eds), "Trademark Law and Theory" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008)

Book Title: Trademark Law and Theory

Editor(s): Dinwoodie, B. Graeme; Janis, D. Mark

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845426026

Section: Chapter 17

Section Title: Culture, traditional knowledge, and trademarks: a view from the South

Author(s): Visser, Coenraad

Number of pages: 15

Extract:

16 Trademarks and traditional knowledge and
cultural intellectual property
Susy Frankel*



I. Introduction
The substantive law of trademarks is in the wings rather than on center stage
of the international intellectual property debate. Similarly, traditional knowl-
edge and cultural property concerns of indigenous peoples in relation to trade-
marks have not taken the center stage of the debate regarding indigenous
peoples' intellectual property rights.1 Much of the international intellectual
property discourse concerning indigenous peoples' rights is focused on patent
law and copyright. Patent law, in particular, has drawn attention to indigenous
peoples' rights in their traditional knowledge because of the role patent law
plays in the relationship between indigenous peoples and bio-prospecting.
Patent law's direct nexus with development, technology transfer, and subject-
specific matters, such as pharmaceuticals, places it at the epicenter of interna-
tional intellectual property tensions. This tension is played out in debate where
two apparent sides emerge: the developed and developing world.2 The intel-
lectual property rights of indigenous peoples have, in part, evolved as a
concern primarily of developing countries that are looking for their compara-
tive advantage in intellectual property at times when their disadvantage under



* Professor of Law, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand,
[e-mail]. Thanks to Graeme Dinwoodie and Mark Janis for their
constructive comments on drafts.
1 There are a number of forums where the ambit of international intellectual
property protection and traditional knowledge is on the agenda. The main arenas of
this discussion ...