What is Patents

The production, dissemination and archivization of knowledge are important processes in contemporary knowledge economy. Questions on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) arise when Indigenous Knowledges (IKs) are examined and evaluated on how they benefit the knowledge economy and development. These questions seem to be addressed in terms of dominant epistemological ideologies based on Eurocentric knowledge production philosophies embedded in positivism and how knowledge is codified and patented. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the process and effect of codification and on IKs. The chapter argues that while knowledge codification is necessary for IKs to be preserved and archived, it is important not to lose sight of the communal ownership of the knowledges and to protect them from exploitation and appropriation. The chapter concludes that while codification of IKs and intellectual property rights are controversial, for IKs to play their full role in socioeconomic development they cannot be left out of codification that is pervasive in today's knowledge economy and society.