The success of an Australian Academy of Agricultural Sciences Master Class has drawn Murdoch’s Asian Pacific Intellectual Property Institute (APIPLI) into discussions with the Department of Foreign Affairs to potentially disseminate the three volumes of course material generated by the Master Class.

The intensive course on Intellectual Property Aspects of Agricultural Biotechnology ran over two weeks in December for twenty invited local and international delegates, and was funded by the Crawford Fund for Agricultural Research.

The focus of the program was to highlight issues surrounding intellectual property rights in agricultural biotechnology including bioprospecting, acquisition and transfer of germ plasm and patenting the agricultural products of genetic engineering.
APIPLI’s director Professor Michael Pendleton said that the Master Class participants came from as far afield as Mexico and Turkey, with most hailing from around the Asia Pacific region.

He said the course was targeted at an audience of biotechnology research scientists, senior administrators and decision-makers.

“Knowledge of IP law for agricultural biotechnology is crucial for developing countries where biological diversity is one of their greatest assets.”
For example Syria has the largest biodiversity of legumes worldwide, and portions of germ plasm from native plants has been transferred into many crop varieties.

“Understanding IP rights gives countries the ability to protect their farmers and reap commercial benefits from the transfer of germ plasm to other countries.”

Professor Pendleton said that participants began the Master Class with varied levels of understanding about intellectual property rights for biotechnology, and that seeds of awareness about these complex issues had been laid for people to take back to their own countries.

Participants’ responses to a questionnaire indicated that they generally felt the Master Class would greatly assist them in their day to day work.
APIPLI is currently in negotiations to organise similar seminars in New Delhi and Beijing later this year.