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

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.
The National Indigenous Knowledge Systems Office (NIKSO) is within the Department of responsible for science and technology. NIKSO shall implement the provisions of this Act and has various functions and powers in respect of protection and use of indigenous knowledge. An Advisory Panel must provide expert and strategic advice to NIKSO in respect of the protection, promotion, development and management of indigenous knowledge.
Indigenous knowledge must be registered with the Registration Office for Indigenous Knowledge in order to be protected. Indigenous knowledge constitutes property of indigenous communities within the meaning of section 25 of the Constitution. The indigenous community holding indigenous knowledge has the exclusive right to— (a) any benefits arising from its commercial use; (b) be acknowledged as its origin; and (c) limit any unauthorised use of the indigenous knowledge. Indigenous knowledge is protected for as long as it meets the eligibility criteria set out in this Act. Custodianship of indigenous knowledge eligible for protection vests in the trustee of that indigenous community.
The Act also provides for certification of indigenous knowledge practitioners, commercial use of indigenous knowledge and dispute resolution. NIKSO shall be instrumental in facilitating a licence agreement with the trustee of the relevant indigenous community and a person who intends to use indigenous knowledge for commercial purposes. Such person must also obtain a licence from NIKSO for use of indigenous knowledge.