Protecting rainforest-derived technology equitably

• Author: Jorge A. Goldstein
• Position: Senior Director, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox PLLC, Washington DC, USA
• Pages: 32-38

32 February 2019

Indigenous peoples k nown as the Emberá live in the rainfores ts of Colombia. The

Emberá, traditionally semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers, have lived in the Chocó region

at least since the sixtee nth century. They co-exist with Afro-colombian co mmunities

that settled the same terr itory from the colonial p eriod when they were brought as

slaves for mining operations. More re cently, the construction of the Pan-Ame rican

highway, mechanized illegal mining and large-scale deforestation have encroached

on the lives of these communities. Havin g lost their precious fores ts, many become

subsistence farmer s or employees in non-sustai nable activities.

One of the Emberá joys is body painting. For a s long as records show, they, and the

Afro-colombian co mmunities with whom they co-exist, have used the dark blu e juice

of the fruit from the jagua tree (Genipa americana) to decorate themselves for ri tuals,

ceremonies, or just for fu n.

In the early 2000s, a pr ivately-funded Colombian compa ny, Ecoora Cares, working

with an organic chemist from a l ocal university in Medellín, extracted the active ing re-

dient from the blue juice of the jagua f ruit and, through a novel process, developed a

stable and free-owing powder. The powder has a be autiful cobalt-blue color.

Ecoora wished to commercia lize the powder, but in a way that would respect the

sustainability of the fr uit and benet the local com munities from which it origina ted.

Therefore, in the spirit of the Convention fo r Biological Diversit y and the Nagoya Pro-

tocol (CBD/Nagoya), Ecoora worked with national and l ocal government and various

non-governmental organ izations (NGOs), to create a business and regulatory net work

that would allow them to ethically source the fr uit and develop the blue powder for use

as an additive for foods, drinks and co smetics. They entered into agre ements with

several Emberá community g roups to produce the jagua fruit for commercial par tners.

Through a benet sharing agreement, these Emberá suppliers share in benets (both

monetary and non- monetary) of any comme rcialization of the jagua-de rived blue

powder and its application.

About seven years ago, Ecoora app roached our law rm for help in obtai ning pat-

ents on the blue powder and its applic ations. They had learned of the rm’s pro bono

program through Public Intere st Intellectual Property Advisor s (PIIPA), an NGO based

in Washington, DC, that connects intellec tual propert y (IP) pro bono lawyers with

potential clients worldwide.

Protecting

rainforest-derived

technology equitably

By Jorge A. Goldstein , Senior Director,

Sterne, Kessler, Golds tein & Fox PLLC,

Washington DC , USA