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CAS-IP: What we Do
- CAS-IP assists, supports, facilitates and secures access to intellectual assets as public goods.
- Contributes legal information to the CGIAR that benefits subsistence farmers in developing countries
- Maintains a knowledge base of IP lessons learnt within the CGIAR
- Provides market development, planning and implementation
- Consults on IP risk management, licensing and design of distribution and supply chains
- Introduces the next generation of lawyers to “agricultural public goods” practice
We have categorised our work into the following areas:
- Transactional Work
- CAS @ Cambridge Intern Programme
- The National Partners Initiative
- Market Development
 Transactional Work
A large portion of CAS-IP’s day-to-day work involves assisting CGIAR centres and stakeholders in transactional work. This includes undertaking the follow activities:
- Reviewing various types of legal documents such as collaborative agreements and licensing contracts
- Drafting and providing feedback to legal documents
- Representing centres and stakeholders in negotiations and meetings
- Advising on strategic IP management and technology transfer issues for the benefit of CGIAR centres and stakeholders
- Enabling/Facilitating peer information exchange through appropriate legal instruments and mechanisms
Our transactional experiences above provide the basis of our advice to centres, training programmes and inform our other research areas. The CAS-IP team members also regularly visit centres to meet with staff and discuss any IP/TT issues face-to-face. Centres are encouraged to contact CAS-IP whenever they have any ad-hoc IP/TT query.
Examples of some of the transactional work we have recently been involved in:
The CAS @ Cambridge Intern Program
As internship programmes go, the CAS @ Cambridge University intern programme is second to none! Its tangible benefits can be categorised into both the short and long term.
In the short term the obvious benefit is that the CG centres have access to a high quality legal resource, in-centre at a non-intimidating level and a low cost. Longer term however, we are exposing these legal professionals to the context of agricultural development. Many have returned to the CG for completion of pro bono work. This is a great funnel for much needed, bright legal minds into the system.
CAS @ Cambridge legal interns’ contributions to the CGIAR: The programme began in 2003. During the first 5 years, some 15 interns have been placed at various CGIAR centres to work on projects such as:
- Developing IP Procedures
- Drafting Intellectual Property Policy & Implementation Guidelines
- Developing legal agreements databases
- Reviewing intellectual property and data collection policies
- Examining agreements and contracts to ensure policy guidelines are being upheld
- Performing intellectual property management audits and providing recommendations
These projects all provide a real and tangible product at the end of the internship period for the host centre.
Visit the CAS-IP pages to learn more about the experiences from those who have previously participated in the CAS @ Cambridge intern programme.
The National Partners Initiative
Through the National Partners Initiative (NPI), CAS-IP is supporting CGIAR centres and their national partners to build on knowledge and expertise in handling intellectual property and technology transfer. This is part of a larger project funded by DGIS (Cultural Co-operation, Education and Research Department).
Participants in this initiative are organised into pairs consisting of a CGIAR centre IP manager/focal point and an IP colleague nominated from a national partner institution. At their first meeting in May 2007, the group collectively identified a wide range of stakeholders who are entrusted with intellectual assets and intellectual property including farmers, researchers, trainers, scientists, government agencies and students. The IP in question ranges from plant varieties and licensed technologies to patents and diagnostic kits. The ongoing challenge is to ensure that this property is effectively managed when in the custody of the various users.
For more information on this initiative please visit the CAS-IP pages
Market Development
Typically, certain commodity agricultural products like coffee and cacao are grown in developing countries and exported to the west for processing, branding and marketing. The added value, much of which is IP, is where the profits are generated and these are rarely shared with the farmers. These farmers are among the much cited group that lives on less than $1 a day.
CAS has taken all of its institutional knowledge and experience to more actively participate in correcting this imbalance, and is working with several CG centres on innovative projects which will directly impact the incomes of this disenfranchised minority.
For more information and updates on this area of CAS work visit the CAS-IP pages.
Research Projects
One of CAS-IP’s driving principles is to stay current to ensure that our assistance, tools, and practices are useful, practical and appropriate. With this end in sight we are involved in a number of research projects that will not only improve the service we are able to provide but will also make useful IP management tools available to CGIAR members and other interested parties.
Examples of these projects include the following categories.
For more information please click to visit the CAS-IP.org pages.
Risk Management & IP
Acquisition of TK
Open Access & Creative Commons
System Dynamics Modelling
Licence Central
Performance Measurement System for Genebanks
Technology Transfer and Farmers' Rights in the CGIAR
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