The CGIAR Central Advisory Service on Intellectual Property is the principal unit for service to the CGIAR System in the area of Intellectual Property and Management. CAS-IP provides services and leadership regarding in particular the transfer and use, as global public goods, of the products developed by research Centers and Challenge Programs (CPs) supported by the CGIAR. CAS-IP works in partnership with Center and CP IP managers and focal points to identify, define and enable the distribution and use of Center and CP products.

Key Accomplishments in 2006

Developing a 5-year Strategy for CAS-IP. In August 2006, CAS-IP sponsored a meeting to provide input for the development of a 5-year strategy for the unit. Meeting participants included CGIAR IP managers and focal points, CAS-IP members, the Expert Advisory Committee, and additional international experts in IP and technology transfer practice. This consultation, along with input from CGIAR Members and the national partners of CGIAR Centers, guided the development of an exciting program of work for the next 5 years. The program will see CAS-IP establish new ways of meeting the needs of the poor through four focused aspects of the management and stewardship of intellectual property and technology transfer:

Fostering IP Management Capacity in Centers. The new strategy entails a approach to the way in which CAS-IP interacts with the Centers. Using this approach, CAS-IP is able to build on the skills of a core team of IP experts to encourage more interactions with a more personalized approach that fosters effective IP management and input to policy development in the CGIAR System. Through a variety of activities, CAS-IP has worked to develop IP management capacity in Centers. These activities included

• organizing the 6th Annual IP Strategy Meeting of the Center IP Managers and Focal Points for the exchange of experiences in IP management among the Centers;
• hiring three legal experts and one scientist to support CAS-IP by providing assistance to Centers, CPs and their partners (Ms. Maria Mendoza, a Colombian lawyer, is based at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, DC; Ms. Guat Hong Teh, a Malaysian lawyer, is based at Bioversity International's Asia Pacific Oceania Regional Office in Serdang, Malaysia; Dr. Sean Butler is a CAS-IP honorary fellow and law faculty member at St. Edmund's College of the University of Cambridge; and Mr. Sebastian Derwisch, a forester with expertise in traditional knowledge practices, is based at the World Agroforestry Center in Nairobi, Kenya);
• providing in-Center legal expertise, through a summer internship program for law students, to the International Potato Center (CIP) and the Sub-Sahara Africa Challenge Program;
• carrying out studies to enhance the tools and streamline the procedures Centers use to enhance the process of in-Center identification of the public goods they produce;
• collecting best practices of CGIAR scientists with respect to traditional knowledge; and
• giving presentations in Centers to raise awareness and skills in IP management and technology transfer.

Engaging a Wider Community of Practice for IP Management That Fosters the Production of Global Public Goods. In addition to CAS-IP's work with the CGIAR Centers; System Office; Member agencies in Germany, Sweden and Netherlands; Genetic Resources Policy Committee; and Systemwide Genetic Resources Program, CAS-IP has worked with Public Interest Intellectual Property Associates, Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture, St. Edmund's College of the University of Cambridge, Michigan State University, Haryana State University and Kerala State University, among others, to cooperatively advance the practice of IP management and technology transfer to foster the production of research products as IPG. These efforts have been in the areas of IP policy and development and the exchange of ideas and experiences.

Collaboration with other System Office Units

The CAS-IP team includes CAS-IP staff, Center IP managers and focal points, and consultants that provide legal services and advice to the Centers through CAS-IP. CAS-IP is a member of the CGIAR SO and works with the other SO units to improve the effectiveness of IP management in the CGIAR System.

Continuing work on international property rights (IPR) initiated in 2005, CAS-IP cooperated with the CGIAR Science Council Secretariat to survey the Centers and prepare a report entitled "Strategies for the CGIAR to conduct research and deliver technological innovation that benefit the poor in a context of IPR." Along with two other commissioned studies, this report was published in 2006 by the Science Council as a supporting document for a paper entitled "CGIAR research strategies for IPG in the context of IPR."

CAS-IP continues to work with the CGIAR Internal Audit Unit (IAU) on revising risk-management guidelines. In particular, CAS-IP is a member of Bioversity's Risk Management Task Force, providing input into the risks associated with the various categories of IP management, legal risks and risks to reputations.

CAS-IP, IAU, and the Institutional Learning and Change initiative provided input to the Systemwide Genetic Resources Program in formulating the proposal "Collective action for the rehabilitation of global public goods in the CGIAR genetic resources system: Phase 2," for which funding was approved by the World Bank late in 2006.

In July 2006, CAS-IP team member Maria Mendoza participated in an IP forum sponsored by the CGIAR Secretariat entitled "Exploring hybrid intellectual property options for agricultural research." Mendoza gave a presentation on the current state of IP management in CGIAR Centers.

Collaboration with the Chief Information Office, the SO Unit that manages the CGIAR's program on information and communication technologies and knowledge management, entailed working with the information managers of CGIAR Centers to develop a policy statement regarding open access to CGIAR publications and materials.