Protecting Indigenous Knowledge through T.E.K.P.A.D.
The Science and Human Rights Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) developed an online database, the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Prior Art Database (T.E.K.*P.A.D.), to prevent companies from patenting indigenous knowledge without consent. Indigenous communities worldwide have cultivated plants and created methods benefiting their people, yet companies have sometimes patented this knowledge without permission. These patents allow companies to control the use and sale of traditional knowledge, often without sharing profits. In some cases, they even prevent communities from benefiting from their own discoveries.
T.E.K.*P.A.D. combats this issue by making indigenous knowledge public, categorizing it as “prior art.” Patents require that inventions be new, useful, and non-obvious. If traditional knowledge has already been published as prior art, it cannot be patented as a new invention. Traditional knowledge has often been vulnerable to patenting because it was unpublished or overlooked. By including it in T.E.K.*P.A.D., AAAS ensures that patent authorities like the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) can locate this knowledge during patent searches.
Community Involvement and Ongoing Efforts
AAAS actively researches traditional knowledge in the public domain and adds it to T.E.K.*P.A.D. The platform also allows individuals to submit entries with proven community consent. AAAS encourages communities to explore all options, including patenting their own knowledge, before contributing it to the database. A handbook for evaluating these options is available at shr.aaas.org/tek/. Currently, T.E.K.*P.A.D. safeguards over 30,000 plants cultivated by indigenous communities, helping prevent exploitation by unauthorized patents.
Many indigenous groups have found their ways of life greatly diminished when private corporations patent their traditional knowledge. A national science organization is working to stop this from happening. When private corporations are allowed to hold patents on traditional knowledge that may form the basis of some communities’ livelihoods, those communities may lose their cultural and economic rights. When they are no longer allowed to use that knowledge, or are forced to pay royalties, their livelihoods and traditions may be irreparably destroyed. The use of a recording and publishing tactic helps prevent that from happening. It is intriguing that technology is being used to protect indigenous peoples’ right to benefit from knowledge that is, in some cases, hundreds or thousands of years old. Online databases have also been used to build awareness of abuse, such as high levels of pollution in impoverished areas or widespread corruption, or to pressure for policy changes.
New Tactics in Human Rights does not advocate for or endorse specific tactics, policies or issues.
