Grassroots innovation is a concept that has gained significant attention lately. It refers to the process of supporting the innovative and artistic endeavors of local communities, whether they are located in rural or urban areas, through the strategic use of intellectual property tools. The idea is to share the benefits derived from the exploitation of these tools with the originating communities, especially those who are most vulnerable.
Grassroots innovation is a concept that has been gaining ground. Some may wonder what is that of grassroots innovation? It consists of accompanying the innovative and artistic processes of local communities (rural or urban) through a strategic use of intellectual property tools in which the benefits derived from their exploitation are shared with the originating communities, among these many vulnerable people.
Recently, the UC Davis School of Law's California International Law Center organized a conference on this topic. The conference featured one of the world's leading experts on grassroots innovation, Professor Anil Gupta, who has spearheaded several organizations, including the Honey Bee Network, the Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN), the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI), and the National Innovation Foundation (NIF). These organizations are dedicated to supporting access to knowledge and the socially responsible management of intellectual property for the poorest and most vulnerable people in India and other parts of the world.
A conference on the subject was brought by the UC Davis School of Law’s California International Law Center, featuring one of the global experts on the subject, Professor Anil Gupta, of Indian origin, who over the past 35 years has spearheaded a number of organizations, including the Honey Bee Network, the Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN), the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) and the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), to support the rights of access to knowledge and the socially responsible management of intellectual property of the poorest and most vulnerable people in their country and in the rest of the world.
The conference was supported by several prestigious global organizations, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lemelson Program, the Organization of Iberoamerican States, the United States Intellectual Property Association (USIPA), the Global Intellectual Property Association (GLIPA), the UC Davis Law Center for Innovation, Law, and Society. The discussion focused on analyzing the challenges of the international intellectual property (IP) architecture in promoting grassroots innovation. The conference was commented on by Dr. Stephanie Couch, the Executive Director of L-MIT, and Professor Juan Reyes from the University of Chile School of Law. The session was moderated by Associate Dean and CILC's Director Professor Beth Greenwood and CILC's Senior Fellow Dr. Jorge Rojas, who is also an expert in this field.
Professor Gupta's talk highlighted several critical lessons for promoting grassroots innovation. We invite you to continue exploring and sharing these invaluable lessons. While it may be a challenging path, with the correct implementation, it is possible to overcome paradigms and bring the benefits of intellectual property to everyone on the planet.
The conference was supported by prestigious global organizations such as Massachussets Institute of Technology Lemelson Program, Organization of Iberoamerican States, United States Intellectual Property Association USIPA, Global Intellectual Property Association GLIPA, UC Davis Law Center for Innovation, Law and Society. The talk focused on analyzing the challenges of international intellectual property (IP) architecture to foster grassroots innovation. It was commented by L-MIT’s Executive Director, Dr. Stephanie Couch and U. Chile School of Law’s Professor Juan Reyes. It was moderated by Associate Dean and CILC’s Director Professor Beth Greenwood and CILC’s Senior Fellow Dr. Jorge Rojas, also an expert in the field.
There are many lessons that Professor Gupta left us. We invite you to continue understanding and sharing its invaluable lessons. It is without a doubt a challenging path, but with a correct implementation it allows us to overcome paradigms and really bring the benefits of intellectual property to everyone on the planet!
View the Event Recording Here