FICPI // Focus 45 // Celebrating World Indigenous People's Day

Join us as we celebrate World Indigenous People's Day!

This webinar will take place at 9:00am Central European Time / 5:00pm Australian Eastern Time.

To mark World Indigenous People’s Day, this Focus 45 webinar will consider what IP practitioners should understand about genetic resources, traditional knowledge and Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Ann Edillon, Director of WIPO’s Traditional Knowledge Division, will join Ronelle Geldenhuys to discuss the new WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (GRATK), and its practical relevance for patent and trade mark attorneys.

The conversation will explore why provenance, consent and benefit-sharing matter when inventions, products or brands draw on biological resources, traditional knowledge or cultural heritage. It will also look at how practitioners can help clients identify risks, avoid misappropriation and engage more respectfully with Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Dr. Ann Edillon, MD, JD is the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Traditional Knowledge Division Director.  Prior to this, she served as the Director of Patent and Design of the Philippines. She obtained her law degree from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Her medical degree is from the University of the East in the Philippines. Her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology was completed at the University of the Philippines, where she graduated with Latin honours. She is an expert in intellectual property rights, specializing in genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, patents, design, biodiversity, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and public health, and trade.

Dr. Ronelle Geldenhuys is a Partner at Jones Maxwell Smith & Davis and the Secretary of FICPI Australia.  She is a registered patent attorney with over 15 years of experience in electronics and software-based inventions, spanning private practice and in-house roles.  Ronelle also lectures in Patent Systems at the University of Technology Sydney and was the founding Chair of the ChIPs Australia & New Zealand chapter.

This is part of our Eastern Hemisphere friendly series, at times accessible to countries and regions including: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Republic of Korea, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, India, and Turkiye.

📖 CPD/CLE certificates can be provided.
❤️ There is no charge to attend the FICPI webinar.
🗣️ This webinar will be in English