The mission of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is to promote innovation and creativity for the economic, social and cultural development of all countries, through a balanced and effective international intellectual property system. The WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) is, according to its mandate, undertaking text-based negotiations with the objective of reaching agreement on a text (or texts) of an international legal instrument (or instruments) which will ensure the effective protection of traditional knowledge (TK), traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) and genetic resources (GRs). Upon request, the WIPO Secretariat offers capacity-building and technical assistance at local, national and regional levels. The WIPO Secretariat also develops and makes available various publications and materials on TK, TCEs and GRs. The “Indigenous Portal” is part of the WIPO Secretariat’s effort to improve access to available information for and relating specifically to indigenous peoples and local communities. Some of WIPO’s work is closely related to the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol, such as:

• WIPO Traditional Knowledge Documentation Toolkit
• Draft Intellectual Property Guidelines for Access to Genetic Resources and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits arising from their Utilization
• Database Biodiversity-related Access and Benefit-sharing Agreements

The WIPO Secretariat can be reached at [email protected] It is possible to subscribe to a newsletter and be kept updated on WIPO’s work.