Propostas de proteção jurídica aos conhecimentos tradicionais associados

Abstract

Associated traditional knowldge is an important biological and cultural wealth, built by several generations of different traditional communities. Those, in contact with the environment that surrounds them, develop a symbiotic relation with biodiversity, in a way to protect and expand it, generating the aforementioned knowledge. That knowledge is aimed by big pharmaceuticals and cosmetics companies and corporations, which have found in it a map to explore the rich biodiversity of different biomes. However, these companies' access to the knowledge frequently happens without the communities' consent, and without sharing the benefits with the communities whose knowledge has been misappropriated. There is an urgency in establishing ways to protect this knowledge, whose production is different from that pupiled by the current patenting system, which limits its protection to inventions with industrial purposes, and to those whose responsibility for the inventions can be individually appointed. By researching various scientific articles, theses, dissertations, international and national laws, it was possible to observe different possibilities of protection to that knowledge, like the partnership between universities and companies, the work of agencies that can assist those communities, criminal protection and the sui generis regime. It is important to notice, however, that all those measures must work together with international cooperation, because without the collaboration from the different countries – with their own different interests – no national law, sui generis regime or criminal protection will stop the misappropriation of traditional knowledge.