Janewa Osei-Tutu

Professor Janewa Osei-Tutu teaches Trademark Law, Fashion and Cultural Heritage, and Contract Law, and publishes widely on intellectual property law, traditional knowledge, and the intersection of intellectual property with human rights and human development. Her current research explores trademarks, the right of publicity, and cultural group identities, with additional projects focusing on intellectual property in Africa.

Prior to academia, she practiced at the Canadian Patent and Trademark Office and the Intellectual Property Policy Directorate at Industry Canada, advising on trademark litigation, legislative reform, and submissions to the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization, and clerked as an Associate Legal Officer at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. A Co-chair of the Intellectual Property Committee for the American Branch of the International Law Association, her scholarship has appeared in publications from Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and leading U.S. law journals.

Professor Osei-Tutu will present her talk entitled "Intangible Cultural Heritage & Human Rights: An Intellectual Property Perspective." She will explore how Intellectual Property (IP) and Human Rights are often discussed as though they are at odds, and intangible cultural heritage is often an example of such a clash. There are numerous examples of the misappropriation of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), which is often considered open for all to use and commercialize, even over the objection of source communities. By comparison, IP rights, such as patents, trademarks, copyrights and geographical indications, have seen increased protection through longer terms of protection or border enforcement, for example. This discussion will focus on how a human rights approach to international IP could be used to help protect cultural identities and the related ICH.