M·CAM Delivers World’s First Heritable Innovation Trust to Government and Communities in Papua New Guinea

Date:  Wed, 2009-07-22

M·CAM Delivers World’s First Heritable Innovation Trust to Government and Communities in Papua New Guinea

July 22, 2009 – Rabaul, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea and Charlottesville, Virginia –– Offering the first alternative framework to the World Trade Organization’s long–delayed efforts to promote and protect indigenous and heritable knowledge, M·CAM will release the world’s first Heritable Innovation Trust to the community elders and elected officials in East New Britain today. While the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) nations are debating accession to and implementation of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreements which provide no statutory protection for any local knowledge, the Heritable Innovation Trust framework is now deployed and will be stewarded by the communities in East New Britain.

The Heritable Innovation Trust framework was written by M·CAM in consultation with communities around the world with specific input from local experts in Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, and Papua New Guinea. It was published in the International Bar Association’s journal Convergence (Heritable Knowledge Framework and the Development of Communal Innovation Trusts: An Ethical Framework for Development, Stewardship, and Trade.” Volume 5, Number 1,). Twenty three pieces of Heritable Knowledge are chronicled in the first Heritable Innovation Trust document covering items including organic food and beverage containers, construction materials and processes and organic remedies.

Please download the full Trust Document by clicking on the the link below.