Protection, Promotion, Development and Management of Indigenous Knowledge Act, 2019 (No. 6 of 2019)

Government Gazette No. 42647 This Act provides rules relative to the use of indigenous knowledge, i.e. knowledge which has been developed within an indigenous community and has been assimilated into the cultural and social identity of that community, and includes— (a) knowledge of a functional nature; (b) knowledge of natural resources; and (c) indigenous cultural expressions. The objects of this Act are to— (a) protect the indigenous knowledge of indigenous communities from unauthorised use, misappropriation and misuse; (b) promote public awareness and understanding of indigenous knowledge for the wider application and development thereof; (c) develop and enhance the potential of indigenous communities to protect their indigenous knowledge; (d) regulate the equitable distribution of benefits; (e) promote the commercial use of indigenous knowledge in the development of new products, services and processes; (f) provide for registration, cataloguing, documentation and recording of indigenous knowledge held by indigenous communities; (g) establish mechanisms for the accreditation of assessors and the certification of indigenous knowledge practitioners; and (h) recognise indigenous knowledge as prior art under intellectual property laws.