WIPO’s new Treaty on genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge – an historic breakthrough towards combatting biopiracy

By Wend Wendland[1]

It was at 02h34 on May 24, 2024 that the gavel fell and the Treaty was adopted – by consensus. The WIPO conference hall, packed to the rafters despite the hour, erupted in cheers.

Since its adoption, the Treaty has been described by countries, Indigenous Peoples and commentators alike as ‘historic’ and ‘significant’, ‘a win for greater balance in IP politics’, a ‘landmark development’, a ‘breakthrough’, a ‘major achievement’, a ‘guiding light’, ‘an historic milestone’, and a ‘stark signal of the strength of multilateralism’.

In short, in a bid to prevent biopiracy, this new WIPO treaty requires patent applicants to disclose the origin or source of genetic resources and traditional knowledge their inventions are based on. Developing countries and Indigenous Peoples have called for such a new disclosure requirement for over 25 years.

One of the stand-out features of the Treaty is that it is the first intellectual property treaty to include references to Indigenous Peoples and the first for which they and developing countries were the proponents. This may be intellectual property’s first truly pro-development treaty. Language proposed by Indigenous Peoples’s representatives resonates throughout the text, and they will play a role in the Treaty’s implementation. In this way, the Treaty contributes to social justice.

The Treaty contributes to environmental justice too. It is the patent system’s first tentative step towards contributing to the conservation of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of benefits derived from its use. Its new disclosure obligation should lead to greater transparency about the commercial use of a country’s biodiversity and what benefits are being created and for whom. This information should trigger inquiries into whether national access and benefit-sharing regimes have been complied with – and, if not, this information could lead to benefit-sharing that might not otherwise have occurred. Provider countries and Indigenous Peoples may then stand to gain a greater share of the monetary and non-monetary benefits that arise from the commercialization of their resources.  

Additionally, this new transparency requirement will help reduce uncertainty about the validity of patents over bio-based inventions. This will lead to higher quality patents and greater trust in the patent system.

For decades, a few industrialised countries – the USA in particular – and industry associations representing the pharmaceutical, agro-chemical, plant science and biotechnology sectors, fought the introduction of such a new disclosure requirement. In the end, however, following effective coordination among developing countries, the Treaty was adopted by consensus. The Treaty’s relative narrowness and pragmatism played their part too in facilitating its adoption.

The success was due as well to the meticulous preparations for the final-stage negotiations that took place in May 2024, the transparent and inclusive way in which the negotiations were conducted and to the roles played by several key individuals.

The Treaty is not yet, however, in force. It will come into force three months after 15 countries have either ratified or acceded to it.

By September 2025, only two countries have so far joined the Treaty (Malawi and Uganda). Reportedly, the USA, Japan and the Republic of Korea have come out against the Treaty. An attempt in February 2025 to begin work on making necessary adjustments to the international patent filing system (such as WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty) was rebuffed by developed countries. There may even be indications that some big megadiverse developing countries may not join the Treaty.

The influence of the Treaty on the continuing negotiations in WIPO on the protection of free-standing traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) is at this stage unclear.

It is too soon to make predictions about the success of the Treaty – however that may be judged, but the Treaty’s adoption on May 24, 2024, was a momentous milestone in the evolution of the patent system. Negotiators made history that day.

It is now up to policymakers, patent offices, patent applicants, Indigenous Peoples and the international community at large to bring the Treaty to life.

Wend Wendland’s book The Journey to the WIPO Treaty on Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge: Policy, Process and People (Edward Elgar, November 2025) is a unique insider’s account of the colourful and eventful journey to the Treaty’s adoption from the first proposal at WIPO for a new patent disclosure requirement in 1999 to the adoption of the Treaty 25 years later. Wendland analyzes the Treaty and its negotiating history, lifting the curtain on how its adoption by consensus was achieved, identifying the key individuals involved and providing insights into how the Treaty’s ultimate success may be judged and achieved.

[1] Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town, South Africa. He was a Director of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva for many years until June 2025. He is contactable at wend@wendwendland.com and through http://www.wendwendland.com

The Journey to the WIPO Treaty on Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge
Policy, Process and People

Wend Wendland, University of Cape Town, South Africa

For more information on the book, go to our website where it will be available for pre-order from October 2025.