In the GCP Consortium Agreement and grant agreements with non-consortium member participants, each institution involved in GCP research makes commitments to recognise intellectual property rights developed outside of GCP, to identify where existing intellectual property rights might impede the distribution of global public goods, and to comply, when applicable, with laws that implement treaties on intellectual property and access to genetic resources. Apart from the GCP participants’ desire to conduct their activities in an ethical and legal manner, these commitments are designed to ensure that research proceeds smoothly, and that end products of research can be delivered unencumbered to end users. This is particularly important in countries such as the USA, where there is no ‘research exemption’ and the inventions are intended for use. Therefore, conducting the research without the consent of the patent holder is in effect breaking the law. Most of the materials from the gene banks at