Bio prospecting is a term that is interchangeable with Bio piracy, these are the processes and commercialization of plants and animals including the exploitation of indigenous forms of knowledge through exclusive commercialization. One may question where the richest forms of genes, species and eco systems exist in the forms of bio diversity. Places with the highest forms of biodiversity in the world tend to be concentrated in tropical and sub-tropical regions (Mayer). It is in these places pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can be found searching the environment for the riches forms of biodiversity resources and indigenous knowledge. Understanding these simple facts immediately brings one to question the ethical implications involved in profit vs. the indigenous people’s rights and respective communities. The knowledge of indigenous people needs to be preserved, shared, and lands protected from bio piracy, with a patent system in place to protect not only the people, but the world.
Who owns traditional indigenous knowledge? In an article prepared by Tonina Simeone for the Parliament of Canada she states;
Unlike the western custom of disseminating knowledge through publication, traditional knowledge systems exist principally in the form of songs, proverbs, stories, folklore, community laws, common or collective property and inventions, practices and rituals. The knowledge is transmitted through specific cultural mechanisms such as those just listed, and often through designated community knowledge holders, such as elders. The knowledge is considered collective to the community, not private to one individual or small group (Simeone).
The traditional knowledge of indigenous people is often found as a profound awaren...
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...nts between patent-holders and source countries is not only a moral issue in terms of uniform protection of rights, but at fundamental level, is necessary for protecting and promoting the livelihoods of the world’s poor (Jiang). Obviously, if the solutions to meet the needs of the world are found in the back yards of indigenous peoples then they may just be more advanced and richer than the industrialized world.
Works Cited
"Intellectual Property Rights In Biotechnology: Addressing New Technology." 1999. Duke University School of Law. 5 May 2014.
Jiang, FeiFei. "The Problem with Patents." 19 December 2008. Havard International Review. 4 May 2014.
Mayer, Natalie. "Earth Month." 2 April 2012. National GeographicChannel. 3 May 2014.
Simeone, Tonina. "Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights." 17 March 2004. Parliament of Canada. 3 May 2014.
(7) Hall B. Patents and Patent Policy -. 2007. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the Morse H. SETTLEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DISPUTES IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL AND MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRIES: ANTITRUST RULES. Allison JR, Lemley MA, Moore KA, Trunkey RD. Valuable patents. Geol.
Winona Wheeler’s essay, “Cree Intellectual Traditions in History” analyzes the oral history of First Nations Elders. She specifically questions the identities of the Elders telling their story and how they have attained the stories that they are telling. Wheeler’s thesis is that the Elders are not mere storages of knowledge, they are humans. And as the days go on, few of them remain which makes it even more relevant to take in what they have and pass it on to the newer generations.
In the late twentieth century, the field of biotechnology and genetic engineering has positioned itself to become one of the great technological revolutions of human history. Yet, things changed when Herber Boyer, a biochemist at the University of California, founded the company Genentech in 1976 to exploit the commercial potential of his research. Since then the field has exploded into a global amalgam of private research firms developing frivolous, profit-hungry products, such as square trees tailor-made for lumber, without any sort of government regulation.
First I will define the definition of terms used in this paper. When I use the word Aboriginal, I understand this as a label given from the colonizers/ Europeans to identify Indigenous peoples. Canadian legislation defines Indigenous peoples as Aboriginal, I understand this as indifferent from the dominant ideology, therefore, the colonizers named Indigenous peoples as Aboriginal. According to teachings I have been exposed to it’s a legal term and it’s associated with discrimination and oppression. However, audiences I have written for prefer the use of Aboriginal. More premise to this reference is Aboriginal, Indigenous, First Nations, Indian and Native are used interchangeable, but it should be noted these names do represent distinct differences. Furthermore, I will use Indigenous to represent an empowering way to reference a unique general culture in Canada. Under the title of Indigenous peoples in Canada, for me represents: First Nations people, Metis people and Inuit peoples. These are the two titles I will use when I reference Indigenous people from an empowering perspective and Aboriginal from a colonizer perspective.
Although the Canadian government has done a great deal to repair the injustices inflicted on the First Nations people of Canada, legislation is no where near where it needs to be to ensure future protection of aboriginal rights in the nation. An examination of the documents that comprise the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms reveal that there is very little in the supreme legal documents of the nation that protect aboriginal rights. When compared with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples it is clear that the Canadian Constitution does not acknowledge numerous provisions regarding indigenous people that the UN resolution has included. The most important of these provisions is the explicit recognition of First Nations rights to their traditional lands, which have a deep societal meaning for aboriginal groups. Several issues must be discussed to understand the complex and intimate relationship all aboriginal societies have with the earth. Exploration into the effects that the absence of these rights has had the Cree of the Eastern James Bay area, will provide a more thorough understanding of the depth of the issue. Overall, the unique cultural relationship First Nations people of Canada have with Mother Earth needs to be incorporated into the documents of the Canadian Constitution to ensure the preservation and protection of Canadian First Nations cultural and heritage rights.s
Generations of native people in Canada have faced suffering and cultural loss as a result of European colonization of their land. Government legislation has impacted the lives of five generations of First Nations people and as a result the fifth generation (from 1980 to present) is working to recover from their crippled cultural identity (Deiter-McArthur 379-380). This current generation is living with the fallout of previous government policies and societal prejudices that linger from four generations previous. Unrepentant, Canada’s ‘Genocide’, and Saskatchewan’s Indian People – Five Generations highlight issues that negatively influence First Nations people. The fifth generation of native people struggle against tremendous adversity in regard to assimilation, integration, separation, and recovering their cultural identity with inadequate assistance from our great nation.
Systems: The canadian Future in light of the American Past.” Ontario native Council on Justice. Toronto, Ontario.
“The recognition of the inherent right of self-government is based on the view that the Aboriginal peoples of Canada have the right to govern themselves in relation to matters that are internal to their communities, integral to their unique cultures, identities, traditions, languages and institutions, and with respect to their special relationship to their land and resources." (Wherrett
“In about half of the Dominion, the aboriginal rights of Indians have arguably been extinguished by treaty” (Sanders, 13). The traditions and culture of Aboriginals are vanishing at a quick pace, and along it is their wealth. If the Canadian Government restore Native rights over resource development once again, Aboriginals would be able to gain back wealth and help with the poverty in their societies. “An influential lobby group with close ties to the federal Conservatives is recommending that Ottawa ditch the Indian Act and give First Nations more control over their land in order to end aboriginal poverty once and for all” (End First). This recommendation would increase the income within Native communities, helping them jump out of
Canada likes to paint an image of peace, justice and equality for all, when, in reality, the treatment of Aboriginal peoples in our country has been anything but. Laden with incomprehensible assimilation and destruction, the history of Canada is a shameful story of dismantlement of Indian rights, of blatant lies and mistrust, and of complete lack of interest in the well-being of First Nations peoples. Though some breakthroughs were made over the years, the overall arching story fits into Cardinal’s description exactly. “Clearly something must be done,” states Murray Sinclair (p. 184, 1994). And that ‘something’ he refers to is drastic change. It is evident, therefore, that Harold Cardinal’s statement is an accurate summarization of the Indigenous/non-Indigenous relationship in
This paper supports Thomas Flanagan's argument against Native sovereignty in Canada; through an evaluation of the meanings of sovereignty it is clear that Native sovereignty can not coexist with Canadian sovereignty. Flanagan outlines two main interpretations of sovereignty. Through an analysis of these ideas it is clear that Native Sovereignty in Canada can not coexist with Canadian sovereignty.
This case has attracted so many attentions because it highlights the risks of US companies doing business in a country with level of IPP legislation which is much lower than global standards. While two countries have a great opportunity to successfully work together such regulation drawbacks create significant obstacles for this work, especially in cases when the potential risks are as high as the rewards. In this way, Chinese government has a chance to show their attitude to IP theft by real actions not just words. And if China’s leaders respond by taking appropriate actions to address this and other intellectual property cases, it would certainly signal the positive prospects for U.S.-China future cooperation.
Overall the use of patents is an essential step in the commercialization of any product in the modern scientific environment. It is a method of trying to reduce the doubling up of research and ensuring the correct people are paid for the inventions. It is essential that some basic rules are followed and every idea is scrutinized by an application process.
Studies that depicted local communities and their knowledge as primitive, simple and static are now countered by a rapidly expanding database generated by both biological and social scientists that describe the complexity and sophistication of many indigenous natural resource management systems" (Waren1992). The West regularly thinks that indigenous knowledge has vanished; there is no indigenous knowledge that exists in the form of ‘folk' knowledge. Science and technology already are an indigenous knowledge (Ellen and Harris2000:5). Within the confusion discussed above, different people define indigenous knowledge as follows: “Indigenous Knowledge (IK) is the local knowledge- Knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society. It contrasts with the international knowledge system generated by universities, research institutions, and private firms.
Indigenous Knowledge (IK) can be broadly defined as the knowledge and skills that an indigenous (local) community accumulates over generations of living in a particular environment. IK is unique to given cultures, localities and societies and is acquired through daily experience. It is embedded in community practices, institutions, relationships and rituals. Because IK is based on, and is deeply embedded in local experience and historic reality, it is therefore unique to that specific culture; it also plays an important role in defining the identity of the community. Similarly, since IK has developed over the centuries of experimentation on how to adapt to local conditions. That is Indigenous ways of knowing informs their ways of being. Accordingly IK is integrated and driven from multiple sources; traditional teachings, empirical observations and revelations handed down generations. Under IK, language, gestures and cultural codes are in harmony. Similarly, language, symbols and family structure are interrelated. For example, First Nation had a