What if the next technology or scientific breakthrough is hidden in ancient tribal knowledge? Today, we'll look at Indigenous knowledge and intellectual property, and how Tech Transfer Offices deal with the specific issues of protecting and honoring these cultural assets.  

We're delighted to welcome Graham Strong, Otago Innovation's commercialization manager with over 25 years of business expertise. Graham is an expert in both intellectual property and Indigenous rights, with a PhD in Botany and a Master of Laws focusing on the monetization of Māori medicinal knowledge.  

As Otago Innovation's expert in natural product commercialization and Indigenous intellectual property, Graham is perfectly positioned to help us navigate this complex landscape.  

We'll look at the underlying contrasts between Indigenous and non-Indigenous intellectual property systems, the problems of protecting Indigenous IP during technology transfer, and the importance of respectful interaction with Indigenous people.  

We also look at how universities may form meaningful, long-term relationships that go beyond transactional agreements, ensuring that Indigenous perspectives are heard and their expertise is appropriately recognized and preserved during the innovation process.  

In This Episode:

[01:44] Graham has a lot of expertise in both intellectual property and indigenous rights.

[02:02] Graham shares that traditional knowledge and indigenous IP are two different things.

[04:02] We talk about how universities can engage indigenous communities in a culturally respectful and meaningful way.

[05:01] Conversations can start when everyone realizes it's okay to be uncomfortable. Graham also talks about reputational damage.

[06:06] Key challenges when protecting indigenous IP in the context of text transfer.

[07:19] We talk about things like handling consent and ownership when traditional knowledge is embedded in new technology.

[08:14] It's difficult to protect background IP which is in the public domain. Graham talks about prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms. These are some of the ingredients that can be in place to handle consent of ownership.

[10:05] Drafting these types of agreements is still a work in progress for Graham's institution.

[11:32] The role that indigenous communities play in the decision-making about how they're knowledge is used.

[13:14] It's a balance between financial and non-financial when putting these partnerships together.

[15:45] We learn about the distinctions of which group you should engage in when looking for permission to use indigenous IP.

[18:33] Talking about cultural respect in tech transfer.

[20:33] We discuss whether universities are able to navigate these complexities while maintaining their core focus on research and innovation.

[23:02] Treating indigenous partners like any other partner and having a negotiation and seeing where it lands.

[24:38] Dealing with issues early on before money is involved.

[27:32] Graham shares a situation where involvement of indigenous communities has slowed down the commercialization of a technology.

[30:02] There have been times when there's been limited flexibility in developing commercialized technology with indigenous communities.

[32:03] We learn about how best practices in indigenous IP protection from other countries apply to universities in various legal, cultural, or economic contexts.

Resources: 

Graham Strong - Otago Innovation

Graham Strong LinkedIn