Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

This week we take a look at the issue of intellectual property and in particular the intellectual property of indigenous communities.

First up we hear from American intellectual property expert Dr David Martin. Dr Martin is the CEO of Intellectual Property Consultancy M-Cam which has identified more than 3000 cases of multi-national companies patenting compounds found in bio-prospecting trips around the Pacific.

And we talk to Dr Deidre Brown, a senior lecturer in architecture at the University of Auckland, who has both an academic and practical interest in the question of indigenous intellectual property rights. As a member of the Maori Trademarks Advisory committee Dr Brown regularly grapples with the complex thrown up when intellectual property law meets the traditional ideas of indigenous communities.

Links:

www.heritableinnovationtrust.org/blog

www.wipo.int/portal/index.html.en

www.m-cam.com

www.globalinnovationcommons.org