Seminar: Claiming the Kakadu Plum: Trademark law and indigenous rights to plants

Το Γραφείο Μεταφοράς Τεχνογνωσίας, σε συνεργασία με την ερευνητική ομάδα TECHNIS και το Μεταπτυχιακό στην Καινοτομία και την Επιχειρηματικότητα TIME Master’s in Business Economics διοργανώνουν την Τρίτη 12 Απριλίου στις 13:00 το 9ο στην σειρά σεμινάριο του Γραφείου για την περίοδο 2021-2022.

Η ομιλήτρια είναι η Jocelyn Bosse, από το The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London.
Ο τίτλος της παρουσιάσεως είναι “Claiming the Kakadu Plum: Trademark law and indigenous rights to plants”.

Για να συνδεθείτε ακολουθήστε τον κάτωθι σύνδεσμο:  https://zoom.us/j/96479541729
Meeting ID: 964 7954 1729

Abstract: Who should control the Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana)? The namerefers to a native Australian tree that produces a small, green fruit, known to Aboriginal people for its food and medicinal uses. The fruit became important to the cosmetics and food industries after Australian scientists showed the fruit to have the highest content of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the world. The Kakadu plum is one of many plants that have been embroiled in allegations of “biopiracy,” a polemical term which describes the use of intellectual property claims to expropriate biodiversity and traditional knowledge, without the consent of, or compensation to, the relevant Indigenous or local community. However, many activists and scholars who criticise the intellectual property system for facilitating the appropriation of Indigenous or traditional knowledge have narrowly focused their attention on patent law, with the consequence that proposed solutions to the problem of biopiracy (such as access and benefit sharing laws) have not addressed the role of other forms of intellectual property. By comparing the arguments raised during trade mark opposition proceedings in Australia and the United States about the word mark “KAKADU PLUM,” the paper highlights the importance of the legal requirements for registration of a trade mark in protecting the rights and interests of Aboriginal communities to their plants and knowledge. From this vantage point, the paper reviews the recent trade mark law reform proposals from the Australian intellectual property office (IP Australia) to introduce additional protections for Indigenous words and knowledge.