China moves to protect traditional knowledge

Legislators in southwest China's Guizhou Province are mulling a regulation aimed at protecting property rights for traditional knowledge, especially knowledge relating to biological resources, said sources with the provincial bureau of intell ectual property right.

For centuries the Miao ethnic group in southwestern China extracted herbal remedies to combat cold, cough and pneumonia from a type of grass called "guanyin cao".

But their failure to patent their traditional knowledge has seen them deprived of the chance to profit from their traditional knowledge, said An Shouhai, vice head of the Guizhou provincial bureau of intellectual property rights.

The case of the Miao is an example of "biopiracy", said An. A foreign company preempted the Miao by patenting the remedies derived from "guanyin cao" and is now making a fortune from it.

The forthcoming regulation is an effort to fight against biopiracy, said An.

In recent years, some pearls of traditional knowledge and resources in developing countries such as Brazil, Peru and Thailand have been captured by patents taken out by foreign companies.

"China currently has no laws and regulations to protect traditional knowledge or species such as 'guanyin cao'. It is high time we legislated to prevent this type of knowledge from being plucked from under our noses," said An.

2007-03-05