Minority Of Traditional Knowledge, Protection Of The Law

Traditional knowledge is great cultural heritage for China which is a country of multi-nationalities. It is the essence of traditional culture and wisdom of ethnic minority groups and foundation of maintenances of minorities' sustainable development. This paper will put forward the new idea of protecting traditional knowledge based on the current situation and study results.In Chapter One, the author puts forward the issue of TK protection and briefly introduces the current situation of study on this issue that is put it in the framework of intellectual property rights.With regard to the disagreement of the concept of TK, in Chapter Two, the author explains the definition of TK and describes the features and important values of TK which is basis of taking protective measures. Finally, the author points out the dangers faced by TK.In Chapter Three, the author examines the major legal framework of protecting TK both on the international level and national level that is in the context of IPR. On the international level, the issue is discussed in World Trade Organization (WTO) and other forum. On the national level, it is regulated by patent law, trademark law and so on.In Chapter Four, the author examines in-depth major problems of current protection in two respects. On one hand, there are some conflicts between TK and IPR rules; on the other hand, there are some deficits of the commercial approach of IPR protection such as the high cost and ignorance of customary law.Outside of IPR, some other approaches exist. In Chapter Five, the author introduces some typical viewpoints. In author's opinion, the approach of Human Rights is most reasonable. The author put forward that it is quite important to reexamine the objective of TK protection.In Chapter Six, based on the recent revision of Patent Law and IPR Strategy, the author analyzes the trend of legislation on TK and gives some proposals for consideration for the future policy.In conclusion, it is significant to design China's own legal framework for TK protection instead of copying the west examples.