193 members of The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a UN agency agreed upon the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge on May 24. The objective behind the treaty was that patent law could prevent the misappropriation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge and promote benefit-sharing.

It is the first time that genetic resources will be brought under the cover of Intellectual Property Rights, and because it is the first WIPO treaty to recognize the rights of indigenous peoples and those of local communities in its provisions.