Policy Brief DRAFT (2024) Next Steps for Genetic Resources and Innovation? The WIPO Treaty and BBNJ Agreement Interface

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Think about approaches to be taken to Digital Sequence Information (DSI) in patent disclosure requirements from a policy and practical level, taking into account the varying views to the DSI and its future place.
2. Review patent and access and benefit-sharing (ABS) procedures to enable patent applications to disclose physical genetic resources and, depending on a state’s choices, DSI as the base for inventions in an efficient and workable manner. This should engage specifically with the Area Beyond National Jurisdiction reflecting existing patent, ABS and scientific practices and those of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
3. Engage with World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) committees and bodies to share practice and learn.
4. Engage with ongoing discussions regarding fair and equitable approach to DSI, and to the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), including at the Montreal and Cali Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meetings in 2024.
5. Engage with experts and practitioners in your country working in science, public health, biodiversity, science and intellectual property from a variety of perspectives.