News and events

2019

• As a part of ARC Project activities,we conducted an awareness seminar on 2 February in the Palakkad District of Kerala. Dr Jayasree Krishnankutty, Professor of Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), coordinated the program. In the light of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001,
  this program highlighted 51 leading farmers’ experiences with traditional rice varieties in Palakkad District.
• ARC Project team member Rhino Ariefiansyah visited the Rice Festival on 29-30 April in Indonesia. In this festival, NGO Asosiasi Bank Benih dan Teknologi Tani Indonesia (AB2TI) took the spotlight. AB2TI achieved two new world records by cultivating 90 varieties in the same rice field and also cooking these varieties with a Pawan (traditional stove made from clay). By examining activities such as those of AB2TI, the ARC Project is exploring how farmers’ seed saving and exchanging culture helps the farming community to continue their seed stewardship and reduce the dependency on seed industry.
• On 30 April, we conducted a workshop to discuss the interim results of the ARC project and also to meet with research collaborators and key stakeholders in Kerala. Farmers from Malappuram and Palakkad, two of the principal rice producing areas of Kerala, participated in the program.
• In May, as a part of ARC activities, Professors Kadambot Siddique and Michael Blakeney, accompanied by Professor Dr Jayashree Krishnankutty, and Dr Rajesh K Raju, College of Horticulture, KAU, met with rice farmers in the Malappuram and Palakkad districts to discuss the cultivation of traditional rice
  varieties.
• Prof. Christoph Antons delivered a presentation on “Intellectual property, cultural property and intangible cultural heritage” (invited presentation at the School of Law, Singapore Management University, Singapore, 21 May 2019)
• Project partner Professor Yunita Winarto and her team at the University of Indonesia organised a workshop in Jakarta on 15 July on the topic of ‘The impact of Free Trade Agreements and national law reforms on farmers’ innovation and local knowledge in Indonesia’. The workshop was attended by government officials, academics, representatives of NGOs and farmers. Professor Christoph Antons developed an introductory presentation for the workshop. Because Professor Antons was unable to attend the workshop in person, this was presented by his PhD student Prayudi Setiadharma, who also acted as facilitator
  of the first session.
• Prof. Christoph Antons presented “Dampak dari Free Trade Agreements dan reformasi hukum nasional terhadap inovasi dan pengetahuan lokal petani di Indonesia: masalah regulasi” (invited presentation at the workshop “The Impact of Free Trade Agreements and national law reforms on farmers’ innovation and local knowledge in Indonesia’, University of Indonesia, Jakarta, 15 July 2019)
• Prof. Christoph Antons presented "Agricultural transformation and government regulation of farmers’ local knowledge in Indonesia” (paper presented at the 4th Annual Conference of the Law and Development Research Network (LDRN), Humboldt University, Berlin, 27 September 2019)
• In November and December, the project hosted a visitor from the Faculty of Law of Airlangga University in Surabaya, Indonesia. Associate Professor Mas Rahmah Arifin was in Australia to collaborate on publications on Indonesian intellectual property law with Professor Antons. Professor Rahmah is the
  Head of the Centre of Intellectual Property and of the postgraduate law program at Airlangga.
• As part of his three-year appointment at the University of Technology MARA (UiTM) in Malaysia, Professor Antons visited the Faculty of Law in Shah Alam, Selangor, from 11 to 16 November. He presented guest lectures in two IP courses and gave a public seminar at the Business Innovation and Technology
  Commercialization Centre (BITCOM), which is under the office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation). This seminar was followed by a meeting with MARA staff involved in research coordination and commercialisation.
• Professor Christoph Antons presented a paper on ‘Agricultural transformation and government regulation of farmers’ local knowledge in Indonesia’ at a staff seminar of the Newcastle Law School, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle, on 9 December.
• Professor Philippe Cullet and Dr Sujith Koonan published the Research Handbook on Law, Environment and the Global South with Edward Elgar. The two editors also wrote the introductory chapter to this volume.

2018

• Professors Kadambot Siddique and Michael Blakeney met farmers at Kerala, India in April.
• Prof. Christoph Antons delivered a presentation on “Intellectual property related to plant material and Free Trade Agreements in Asia” (invited seminar presentation at the Workshop on Institutions and Socio-Economic Development, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle, 4 April 2018)
• Professor Christoph Antons was a keynote speaker at the 2nd International Conference on Law, Governance and Globalization organised by the Faculty of Law, Airlangga University, Surabaya on 28 August.
• Prof. Christoph Antons presented “Intellectual property and the business of intangible cultural heritage in Asia: cross-border disputes and community concerns” (paper presented at the 4th Biennial Conference of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 5 September 2018)
• Professor Antons delivered a public lecture on ‘Intellectual property, agriculture and Free Trade Agreements’ at the Jakarta campus of Gadjah Mada University on 14 September. The presentation was hosted and introduced by Professor M Hawin of the Gadjah Mada Law Faculty. He was speaking at a panel on
  ICH Safeguarding and IP protection.
• As a part of the ARC Project activities, an awareness program was conducted on 7 November in Thalakkad Panchayat, in Kerala with the dual purpose of aiming to enlighten farmers on new legislative and policy initiatives and also to invite them to share their farming experience.

2017

• Prof. Christoph Antons delivered a presentation on “Developing evidence-based approaches to law reform in postcolonial societies: lessons from international and comparative law research” (with Amy Maguire; presentation at the Symposium on Evidence-Based Law and Practice, Newcastle Law School, University of Newcastle, 22 May 2017)
• Professors Christoph Antons, Yunita Winarto and Dr Greg Acciaoli met farmers at Indramayu, Indonesia in July.
• Professor Winarto and Research Assistants Adline Prihandiani and Sinta Uli conducted field research at Central Java (Karang Anyar), Indonesia in September.
• Prof. Christoph Antons presented “Hak atas kekayaan intelektual dan warisan tak benda” (“Intellectual property rights and intangible cultural heritage”; public lecture at the Faculty of Law, Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia, 1 August 2017)
• Research Assistants Adline Prihandiani and Sinta Uli conducted fieldwork in Bangodua district of Indramayu on 12-16 October.
• Professor Antons and Research Assistants Adline Prihandiani and Sinta Uli visited the Centre for Rice Research (Balai Besar Penelitian Tanaman Padi) in Sukamadi and NGOs in Jakarta and Bogor in December.
• In December, Professor Antons was a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, Singapore Management University, where he gave a seminar presentation and participated in a conference on intellectual property law and international trade law.
• Prof. Christoph Antons delivered a presentation on “Intellectual Property Related to Plant Material and Free Trade Agreements in Asia” (invited presentation at the conference ‘The Future of Asian Trade Deals and IP’, Applied Research Centre for Intellectual Assets and the Law in Asia, School of Law, Singapore Management University, 8 December 2017)

Media Features

• ‘Teaching IP’, Asia IP, 30 June 2020, https://www.asiaiplaw.com/section/in-depth/teaching-ip (last accessed 7 August 2020)
• ‘Farmers’ rights over seeds: The unsung song in Bangladesh’, The Daily Star, 9 July 2019, https://www.thedailystar.net/law-our-rights/news/farmers-rights-over-seeds-the-unsung-song-bangladesh-1768528 (last accessed 30 July 2019)