All Publications

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ Decolonial Struggle over Transplanted Western IP

How have Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities resisted the limitations to their knowledge systems arising from Western IP?

Blog PostChidi OguamanamJune 16, 2026griculture, Event, Genetic Resources, Health, Human Rights, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Legal Orders, Legal Pluralism, Technology, Traditional Knowledge, Webinar, WIPO, IP and Knowledge Governance, Agriculture and Biodiversity

Language as Knowledge: Preserving Indigenous Languages as Carriers of Ecological Wisdom

Indigenous languages are a vehicle for communicating Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Indigenous worldviews and wisdom. The diversity of Indigenous languages reflects ecological and epistemic diversity with philosophical sophistication.

Blog PostChidi OguamanamJune 1, 2026Indigenous, Traditional Knowledge, Ecology, Indigenous Knowledge, Language

Advancing Farmer-Centred Innovations Amidst Marginalization in Nigeria’s Seed Laws and Plant Variety Protection Regime

Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property
Vol. 16, Issue 1 (April 2026)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamMay 18, 2026Nigeria, Seed Law, Genetic Resources, Agriculture, Agriculture and Biodiversity, Plant Variety Protection

IGC 52 Elects an Indigenous (Mãori) Chair, Rebuilds Confidence Amidst Modest Progress

The 52nd IGC sessions elected an Indigenous IGC Chair for the first time. He is New Zealand’s Laine Fisher, a Mãori, who served as a national delegate from the Ministry for Mãori Development (Te Puni Kõkiri).

Blog PostChidi OguamanamMay 18, 2026WIPO IGC, IGC 52, Indigenous, New Zealand, Traditional Knowledge

Re-Inventing Global Public Health in the Shadow of COVID-19: Decentring Intellectual Property in International Health Regulations (IHR) and the Pandemic Agreement for SDGs

Journal of Global Health Law
(Working Paper, Forthcoming)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamMay 18, 2026Health Law and Medical Ethics, COVID-19, IP and Knowledge Governance, WHO

WIPO Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge Treaty: Unravelling the United States’ Isolationist Intellectual Property Diplomacy

Intellectual Property Forum
Issue 143 (March 2026)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamMarch 16, 2026IP and Knowledge Governance, Indigenous, Indigenous Knowledge, CBD, WIPO, IPLC

The WIPO Treaty On Genetic Resources And Associated Traditional Knowledge: A Negotiating, Contextual And Conceptual Appraisal

Boston University International Law Journal
(Summer 2025)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamNovember 12, 2025IP and Knowledge Governance, Indigenous, Indigenous Knowledge, CBD, WIPO, IPLC

Digital Agriculture Will Perpetuate Injustice Unless Led From the Grassroots

Nature Food
(March 2025)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamNovember 4, 2025IP and Knowledge Governance, Indigenous, Indigenous Knowledge, CBD, WIPO, IPLC, Agriculture, Agriculture and Biodiversity

Information Systems and Digitization of Traditional Knowledge: Trends in Cultural Heritage and Memory Institutions and the Wipo Genetic Resources Treaty

The Journal of World Intellectual Property
(August 2025)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamSeptember 9, 2025IP and Knowledge Governance, Indigenous, Indigenous Knowledge, CBD, WIPO, IPLC

From the 66th Assemblies of WIPO: Echoes of IGC’s Uncertain Future

The 66th Annual General Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO-GA), which were held in Geneva from July 8-17, 2025, have just concluded.

Blog PostChidi OguamanamJuly 19, 2025Diplomacy, Diplomatic Conference, Genetic Resources, Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, Treaty, WIPO General Assembly, WIPO IGC, National Congress of American Indians

Regime Complex in Life Sciences Innovation: Disclosure of Source, Traditional Knowledge and Shifts in Intellectual Property and Knowledge Governance

International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law
(June 2025)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamJuly 13, 2025IP and Knowledge Governance, Indigenous, Indigenous Knowledge, CBD, WIPO, IPLC

Asking the Traditional Knowledge Question as a Reality Check

How are the Cradle Principles on Knowledge Governance relevant to Traditional Knowledge in Africa?

Op-EdChidi OguamanamJune 29, 2025Innovation, OpenAIR, Africa, Scaling, Sustainability, IP and Knowledge Governance

WIPO-IGC 51st Sessions Breaks Jinx, Recommends Mandate Renewal

Delegates to the WIPO Special Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions resumed and concluded their last deliberations for the 2024-2025 biennium on May 30-June 5.

Blog PostChidi OguamanamJune 9, 2025Diplomacy, Diplomatic Conference, Genetic Resources, Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, Treaty, WIPO General Assembly, WIPO IGC, NCAI, NARF, FPIC, National Congress of American Indians

Discord over Rights and Measures-Based Approaches to the Protection of TK and TCEs Scuttles WIPO IGC 50

After one week of deliberations from March 3-7, the 50th WIPO-IGC failed to negotiate a new instrument for the protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions. The work will continue at the 51st session in May 2025.

Blog PostChidi OguamanamMarch 9, 2025Diplomacy, Diplomatic Conference, Genetic Resources, Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, Treaty, WIPO General Assembly, WIPO IGC, NCAI, NARF, FPIC, National Congress of American Indians

Equitable Governance of Agri-food Data is Imperative for Global Food Security

Did you know that small farmers’ access to agri-food data can impact food security on a global scale?

Op-EdChidi OguamanamFebruary 11, 2025Innovation, OpenAIR, Africa, Scaling, Sustainability, IP and Knowledge Governance

Kente Weaving Among Akan and Ewe Peoples of Ghana

International Journal of Cultural Property
(December 2024)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamDecember 11, 2024Africa, IP and Knowledge Governance, Indigenous, Indigenous Knowledge

The 49th WIPO IGC: Delegates Fail to Agree on TK and TCEs Text

At resumed negotiations on TK and TCEs Texts, WIPO member states missed an opportunity to leverage the momentum created by two new treaties this year.

Blog PostChidi OguamanamDecember 10, 2024Diplomacy, Diplomatic Conference, Genetic Resources, Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, Treaty, WIPO General Assembly, WIPO IGC, NCAI, NARF, FPIC, National Congress of American Indians

WIPO IGC 48 & 49: Resumption of Negotiations after the GR-TK Treaty

In Geneva: experts, diplomats and many stakeholder delegations have resumed negotiations at the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions.

Blog PostChidi OguamanamDecember 2, 2024Diplomacy, Diplomatic Conference, Genetic Resources, Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, Treaty, WIPO General Assembly, WIPO IGC, NCAI, NARF, FPIC, National Congress of American Indians