About this research
Project Summary
Current negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) propose developing databases of Indigenous knowledge and genetic resources. Patent offices would use these databases to determine if patent applications are truly novel and inventive.
However, government-controlled databases are problematic because they make assumptions about mātauranga, such as who holds it, and how it can be stored. This issue takes on increasing urgency with widespread application of AI to data, and genetic resources being stored as data.
This research analyses WIPO’s proposal through a case study on mātauranga Māori innovations in papakāinga and assessing findings about novel mātauranga vis-à-vis existing and proposed domestic and international laws regarding data in registries.
There are two sub-projects:
- The first looks at papakāinga as locations where significant innovation is developed and identifies the nature of this mātauranga and its protection.
- The second examines the potential for a Māori-developed and controlled registry of mātauranga for the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand to use.
Research Questions
What are examples of Māori innovations on pāpakainga? Does the IP regime matter for these? Or does Māori data sovereignty look different, e.g. a Māori-developed and -controlled register?
Lead Researcher
Dr Jesse Pirini, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Whakatōhea, Victoria University of Wellington
Research Team
Professor Jessica Lai, Victoria University of Wellington
Dr David Jefferson, University of Canterbury
Harriet Kennelly, Taranaki, Ngā Māhanga, Pūniho Pa, University of Canterbury
The research project is analysing the WIPO’s proposal to develop databases of Indigenous Knowledge and genetic resources through a case study on mātauranga Māori innovations in papakāinga and assessing findings about novel mātauranga vis-à-vis existing and proposed domestic and international laws regarding data in registries.
Ētahi atu · Other projects
PhD Candidate: Jennifer Tokomauri McGregor (Ngati Raukawa (Waikato)) Primary Supervisor(s): Dr. Alayne Mikahere-Hall Background: Despite being a long-term government priority, the inequity of Māori nurses in the health workforce is long-standing, suggesting that that recruitment and retention of Māori into the nursing workforce is problematic. Māori nurses…
View projectKawa Whakaruruhau: Culturally-safe spaces for Māori nurse practice development
This research programme dives beneath the surface to expose how efforts to address racism in Aotearoa can be symbolic, sidelining Māori worldviews and limiting true transformation. Led through a kaupapa Māori lens, this programme challenges narrow, imported definitions of racism and equity, and confronts how dominant systems create and maintain Māori…
View projectResearch to Interrupt Racism and (In)equity (RIRI)
This research programme dives beneath the surface to expose how efforts to address racism in Aotearoa can be symbolic, sidelining Māori worldviews and limiting true transformation.
Led through a kaupapa Māori lens, this programme challenges narrow, imported definitions of racism and equity, and confronts how dominant systems create and maintain Māori ‘vulnerability’. It aims to reframe equity on Māori terms—grounded in rangatiratanga, Indigenous knowledge, and the realities of colonisation.
This internship compiled a bibliography of politics research by kairangahau Māori, supporting more inclusive and responsive political studies in Aotearoa. Guided by a multidisciplinary rōpū, interns built research skills and helped shape future pathways for Māori in politics and policy.
View projectDeveloping a Bibliography of Politics Research by Kairangahau Māori
This internship compiled a bibliography of politics research by kairangahau Māori, supporting more inclusive and responsive political studies in Aotearoa.
Guided by a multidisciplinary rōpū, interns built research skills and helped shape future pathways for Māori in politics and policy.