Black’s Law Dictionary defines “holder” as “a person who has legal possession of a negotiable instrument and is entitled to receive payment on it.”  WIPO uses this term to refer to all persons who create, originate, develop and preserve traditional knowledge in a traditional setting and context.  Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are traditional knowledge holders, but not all traditional knowledge holders are indigenous. In this context, “traditional knowledge” refers to both traditional knowledge stricto sensu and traditional cultural expressions.

As indicated in the “List and Brief Technical Explanation of Various Forms in which Traditional Knowledge may be Found” “[traditional knowledge] is, in general, developed collectively and/or regarded as belonged collectively to an indigenous or local community or to groups of individuals within such a community. […]  Nonetheless, a particular individual member of a community, such as a certain traditional healer or individual farmer, might hold specific knowledge.”