Estimating the Market Value of Indigenous Knowledge

Abstract

This report provides an approach to the valuation of the potential market value of Indigenous knowledge (IK) including traditional knowledge and cultural expressions6 for IP Australia (IP Australia, 2018e; Janke & Sentina, 2018). The report has a particular focus on the current and potential future market value created through legislated protection measures including patent law, trade mark law, design legislation and plant breeder’s rights. These are the protective mechanisms, which do not include copyright law, that sit within IP Australia’s jurisdiction.The market value of IK is connected to, though not the same as, the market value of IP that protects that IK, just as the value of derivatives in the financial markets is connected to though not equal to the value of their respective underlying stocks. This insight is drawn from the observation that the value of technology is connected to, though separate in value from, the value of the IP that protects that technology