Intellectual property (IP) legislation in New Zealand provides for the establishment of Māori committees for certain types of IP. The purpose of these committees is to consider IP applications under the context of values, concepts, practices and knowledge associated with Māori culture, and advise whether proposed IP is likely to be offensive to Māori.
There are 2 committees:
Design applications with Māori elements may be considered by the Trade Marks Māori Advisory Committee. A Māori committee for plant varieties is also in the process of being established under the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022.
Committee members have a deep understanding of mātauranga Māori and tikanga Māori (Māori worldview, culture and protocols).
IPONZ charges no additional fees whenever an IP application is assessed by a Māori Committee. This assessment is part of the examination process, and does not delay the application in most cases.
Māori Trade Marks Advisory Committee
The members of the Māori Trade Marks Advisory Committee are appointed by the Commissioner of Trade Marks under section 177 of the Trade Marks Act 2002.
The function of the Māori Trade Marks Advisory Committee is to advise the Commissioner on whether the proposed use or registration of a trade mark that is (or appears to be) derivative of a Māori sign is likely to be offensive to Māori. This includes any text and imagery in the trade mark.
- Ms Karen Te O Kahurangi Waaka is the Chair of the Committee. She was a member of the Māori Trade Marks Focus Group established by the Ministry of Commerce in 1995 and 1996 to facilitate consultation on the reform of the Trade Marks Act. She has extensive experience in Māori tourism, and currently works as a private consultant.
- Dr Deidre Brown is a Senior Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Auckland. Previously she was a Senior Lecturer in Fine Arts and Art History at the University of Canterbury. Her specialist areas are Māori art and architecture, Māori and technology, the history and theory of architecture, digitisation and culture, and the relationship of art, museology and curatorship to architecture. Deidre is widely published and has lectured internationally on the topics of Māori art and iconography.
- Professor Pare Keiha has a background that spans both academic and commercial environments. He is currently the Tumuaki of Te Ara Poutama, the Dean of the Faculty of Māori Development, at the Auckland University of Technology. He is a member of the Board of the Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST), Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and the Waerenga-a-Hika Trust Board. He is also a director of Port of Gisborne Ltd and Gisborne City Holdings Ltd and is a member of the Institute of Directors.
- Dr Karaitiana Taiuru PhD, JP (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Rārua, Ngāti Kahungunu, Pākehā) is an advocate and proponent for online and digital Māori rights, data sovereignty/digital colonialism, te reo Māori revitalisation with technology, cultural appropriation, Māori representation and Intellectual Property Rights, raising tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori awareness in digital and other new technologies.
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Ms Aroha Te Pareake Mead is an independent researcher specialising in Mātauranga Māori/Indigenous Knowledge, Biocultural Diversity and Indigenous Cultural & Intellectual Property Rights. She has published extensively on these issues. Aroha is also a member of the Repatriation Advisory Panel (Te Papa Tongarewa), Kāhui Māori (Deep South Climate Change National Science Challenge) and Kāhui Māori (Genomics Aotearoa). Her former roles include: Director, Māori Business, Victoria University of Wellington; Global Chair, IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP); and Policy Manager, Cultural Heritage & Indigenous Issues Unit, Te Puni Kōkiri.
Māori Patents Advisory Committee
Members of the Māori Patents Advisory Committee are appointed by the Commissioner of Patents under section 225 of the Patents Act 2013.
The function of the Māori Patents Advisory Committee is to advise the Commissioner on whether an invention claimed in a patent application is derived from Māori traditional knowledge or from indigenous plants or animals. Where this is the case, the Committee also advises whether the commercial exploitation of such inventions would likely be contrary to Māori values.
- Professor Pare Keiha is the Committee Chair. He has a background that spans both academic and commercial environments. He is currently the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Maori Advancement, Pro Vice Chancellor for Learning and Teaching and Dean/Tumaki of Te Ara Poutama, the Faculty of Māori & Indigenous Advancement, at AUT University. Professor Keiha has served on a number of boards and committees including the Board of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and he was a member of the Centre for Performance Base Research Fund Committee of the Royal Society of New Zealand. In 2008, he was made a Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for his services to business, education and Māori.
- Ms Karen Te O Kahurangi Waaka is the Chair of the Trade Marks Māori advisory committee and a member of the Māori Trade Marks Focus Group. She has extensive experience in Māori tourism, and is currently a television and film producer.
- Mr Baden Vertongen is a barrister and solicitor specialising in Māori law. He has worked on a number of client cases relating to the negotiation and settlement of Treaty of Waitangi claims, and the protection and utilisation of those assets post-settlement. Baden is also an associate member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors.
Māori Plant Varieties Committee
Members of the Māori Plant Varieties Committee are appointed by the Commissioner of Patents under section 57 of the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022. This Committee is currently in the process of being established.
The Māori Plant Varieties Committee assesses plant variety rights applications whose varieties belong to an indigenous plant species, or a non-indigenous species of significance. The role of the Committee is to determine whether the grant of a plant variety right may have adverse effects on associated kaitiaki relationships with that plant variety.