Kuwait keen on preserving heritage – Rep.

Kuwait is continuously taking part in preserving heritage with the international community, said a senior Kuwaiti diplomat on Saturday. The remarks came in a statement to KUNA by Kuwait's Permanent Representative to the UN and Other International Organizations Ambassador Nasser Al-Hayen, who chaired Kuwait's delegation in the Diplomatic Conference on adopting a new treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge, under the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva. The ambassador hailed WIPO's role in preserving heritage, as well as in finding a balanced international system for intellectual property, which encourages innovation and creativity. The 11-day conference saw the signing of a treaty on intellectual property, genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, said Al-Hayen. The event also included signing the conference's final statement by 180 countries, including Kuwait, he added. This is the first WIPO Treaty to include provisions s pecifically for Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities. Once the treaty enters into force with 15 contracting parties, it will establish an international law on new disclosure requirement for patent applicants, whose inventions based on genetic resources and/or associated traditional knowledge. WIPO is the UN agency that serves the world's innovators and creators, ensuring that their ideas travel safely to the market to improve lives everywhere. Source: Kuwait News Agency