Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge and Patent Rights: The Case Study of Phyllomedusa bicolor

Abstract

This article intends to analyze the possible structure of the appropriation of traditional knowledge through the patent rights system. The research question is whether the international legislation on patents and biodiversity may be contributing to the process of appropriating traditional knowledge and natural genetic resources associated with Brazilian biodiversity from the Amazon region. The aim is to cross-reference the empirical facts concerning the use of traditional knowledge and the effects of the legal treatment of patent rights. The theory to be constructed is that the international regulations on patent rights and biodiversity contribute to the process of appropriating traditional knowledge associated with Brazilian biodiversity. Therefore, empirical qualitative research is conducted, utilizing the rules of inference developed by Lee Epstein and Gary King and the grounded theory methodology. Finally, the case of Phyllomedusa bicolor (Kampô frog) was selected and studied to extract empirical data which can be used to enunciate the theory of appropriation of natural genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge from the South by the North.