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41 UCLA L. Rev. 443 (1993-1994)
Protection of the Ethnobiological Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples

handle is hein.journals/uclalr41 and id is 467 raw text is: PROTECTION OF THE ETHNOBIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES1 Lester I. Yano* INTRODUCTION ............................................ 444 I. WHOSE KNOWLEDGE IS IT? ................................. 448 II. PATENT LAW APPLIED TO ETHNOBIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE ............ 451 A. Statutory and Case Law Perspective .......................... 451 1. Products of Nature ................................. 452 2. New and Novelty Requirements. ........................ 455 3. Nonobviousness Requirement ............................ 456 4. Utility Requirement ................................ 457 B. Application of Case Law to Ethnobiological Knowledge ........... 457 1. Products of Nature ................................. 459 2. Novelty Requirement ............................... 459 3. Nonobviousness Requirement .......................... 460 III. PATENT POLICY PERSPECTIVE ................................ 462 A. A Summary of Economic Patent Theories ..................... 463 1. The Reward Theory ................................ 463 2. The Prospect Theory ............................... 465 3. The Rent Dissipation Theory .............. ............ 467 B. Application of Patent Theory to Ethnobiological Knowledge ....... 468 1. The Reward Theory ................................ 469 2. The Prospect Theory ............................... 469 3. The Rent Dissipation Theory .......................... 470 * Third year student, UCLA School of Law, Comment Editor, UCLA Law Review, Volume 41; M.S.E., 1981, UC Irvine; B.S.C.E., cum laude, 1979, WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis. This Comment is dedicated to all of the indigenous peoples who have worked to insure that their valuable knowledge is not lost. I would like to thank my academic advisor, Professor Carole E. Goldberg-Ambrose, for her guidance and nurturing support and Professor Mark F. Grady for his helpful advice and suggestions. I am also indebted to Jaleen Nelson, Asha Lata Badrinath, Angela Bellanca, Robyn Polashuk, Vicki Norton, Hao-Nhien Vu, and Richard A. Tamor for the improvements they made to this Comment. I am especially grateful to my parents, Itsuo and Ethel Yano, for their unquestioning and unwavering support in all phases of my life. 1. In this Comment, ethnobiological knowledge is defined as the knowledge of indigenous peoples about the utility, diversity, and chemical characteristics of plants found in their environment. Cf. Bo Holmstedt & Jan G. Bruhn, Ethnopharmacology-A Challenge, 8 J. ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY 251, 251 (1983) (defining ethnopharmacology as the observation, identification, description and experimental investigation of the ingredients and the effects of indigenous drugs.).

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