Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law Margo Bagley has been actively involved in negotiations for two proposed treaties that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assemblies agreed to send to diplomatic conferences. Once convened, the conferences will consider a new Design Law Treaty and a treaty relating to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge utilization in the patent system. Diplomatic conferences are the meetings through which multilateral treaties are adopted.  

Bagley, as Friend of the Chair in the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), has been involved in negotiations for both outcomes for the past eight years. She will also be heavily involved in the meetings building towards both treaties, in both cases serving as an expert advisor to the African Union. 

The Design Law Treaty would “provide for a more streamlined, harmonized process for filing and protecting design rights around the world,” according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The Draft International Legal Instrument Relating to Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources has the potential to “improve the quality, effectiveness and transparency of the patent system” in relation to the use of genetic resources and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources claimed in patent applications. 

“This outcome is a profoundly important step for both the international IP system and for indigenous peoples and local communities who steward genetic resources and create traditional knowledge. I am thrilled to have played a role in getting to this point and look forward to the culmination of this work in two new and inclusive IP treaties," says Bagley. 

WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information, and cooperation. It is a self-funding agency of the United Nations, with 193 member states.