The protection of the knowledge and practises of local and indigenous groups has been discussed in various forums in recent times. International agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity address the importance of protecting traditional knowledge and practises, This book examines traditional knowledge protection in the area of traditional medical knowledge, often utilised in contemporary medicine, and consequently subject to patent protection. It provides a comparative view of the current patent regimes in major economies, specifically the US and the EU, and the consequences of the application of these laws to traditional medical knowledge and follow-on innovation, as well as the impact on underlying economic principles and opposing interests.

Legal control and ownership of plants and traditional knowledge of the uses of plants (TKUP) is a vexing issue. The phenomenon of appropriation of plants and TKUP, otherwise known as biopiracy, thrives in a cultural milieu where non-Western forms of knowledge are systemically marginalized and devalued as "folk knowledge" or characterized as inferior. Global Biopiracy rethinks the role of international law and legal concepts, the Western-based, Eurocentric patent systems of the world, and international agricultural research institutions as they affect legal ownership and control of plants and TKUP.