All Publications

Why the WIPO GRATK Treaty Urgently Needs to Come into Force

There is an urgency for the WIPO GRATK Treaty to come into effect. This is because of the several issues that the Treaty kicked down the road.

Blog PostChidi OguamanamSeptember 20, 2026Event, Genetic Resources, Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, WIPO, IP and Knowledge Governance

Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples to Health: Access and Benefit Sharing, Traditional Medicine and Global Health

A Human-Centered Approach to Health Innovations: Reconciling Intellectual Property with Human Rights (Cambridge University Press)
Advance Pre-Publication Version (August 2026)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamAugust 25, 2026Access and Benefit Sharing, Health Law and Medical Ethics, Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Culture, Human Rights, IPLC, IP and Knowledge Governance

The WIPO Genetic Resources and TK Treaty: Disrupting the Power Imbalance in International Intellectual Property

Working Paper, Publication Forthcoming
(August 2026)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamAugust 24, 2026IP and Knowledge Governance, WIPO, Traditional Knowledge

The Convention on Biological Diversity: IP, Access and Benefit-Sharing, and New Technologies for Sustainable Development

Legal Aspects of Implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity (Cambridge University Press)
Advance Pre-Publication Version (August 2026)

Journal ArticleChidi OguamanamAugust 24, 2026Genetic Resources, Agriculture and Biodiversity, IP and Knowledge Governance

68th WIPO General Assembly: Gauging the Pulse on the IGC and the GRATK Treaty

I examine what the 68th WIPO General Assembly revealed about the future of the IGC and the GRATK Treaty, including the political and legal challenges that lie ahead.

Blog PostChidi OguamanamJuly 27, 2026Event, Genetic Resources, Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, WIPO, IP and Knowledge Governance

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
(July 2026)

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