A new Brazilian regulation requires biotechnology patent applicants to prove that they had legal access to the genetic resources involved in the products and inventions they wish to register. The requirement, imposed by the Genetic Heritage Management Council and the National Institute of Industrial Property from the beginning of this year, also applies to traditional knowledge used in research.

“It's an important step towards overcoming biopiracy and promoting the distribution of the benefits of biodiversity, as required by the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992),” Fernando Mathias, a lawyer with the non-governmental Socioenvironmental Institute, told Tierramérica.

However, this pioneering law will need controls to be in place to ensure that patent royalties go to the owners of the genetic resources and the traditional knowledge that formed the basis of the developed product, Mathias added.