Articles

Knowledge of biological diversity is a major source of innovation. Collective intellectual property of traditional knowledge by Indigenous peoples and local communities is an important source of innovation and product development. This article investigates collective intellectual property systems on the traditional knowledge of Aspalathus linearis, also known as rooibos—an endemic plant from South Africa which is the basis of an important herbal tea industry. The article discusses how collective action and self-organization can generate collective intellectual property systems; indigenous peoples and local communities can develop these systems to protect their IP; how these systems can promote social justice and a more equitable distribution of benefits but can be sources of dispute between socio-economic groups and communities and can reproduce historical inequalities and power asymmetries.