The USPTO has to be the agency which enforces intellectual property rights – they fall under congress

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) applaud the decision to hold this long overdue consultation.Since 2016, NCAI, represented by NARF, has called on the federal government to engage in government-to-government consultation on tribal intellectual property issues. These efforts included NCAI passing resolutions in both 2016 and 2022 calling for immediate and direct consultations regarding international negotiations happening at the World Intellectual Property Organization (Resolution PHX-16-054 and Resolution SAC-22-038). “The United States federal government needs to ensure free, prior, and informed consent from Tribal Nations as it develops positions to be taken in these international negotiations around genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and cultural expressions. Tribes have sovereign rights and authority as the holders and guardians of these aspects of our cultures that must be respected by the United States. The upcoming consultations are a necessary step to ensure that these legal and moral requirements are met,” said NCAI Executive Director Larry Wright, Jr. “The United States Patent and Trademark Office has taken positions in negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization more aligned with corporations that want to access and use Indigenous Peoples’ genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and cultural expressions than with the United States’ role as trustee for Tribal Nations. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ rights to their cultural and intellectual property, as well as the obligation for the United States to take measures to protect those rights. It is good that the United States is living up to its obligation to consult with Tribes, and the concern now is to ensure that the consultation is meaningful and actually impacts the United States’ negotiation positions,” explained NARF Staff Attorney Sue Noe.