People
Middlemiss, Phyllida A.
| Job Title | Biodiversity and Intellectual Property Consultant |
|---|---|
| Department | Herbarium (Contract) |
| Section | |
| Science Teams |
Conventions and Policies |
| Joined Kew | 1999 |
| Foreign Language(s) | French (fluent); Spanish (working knowledge) |
Qualifications & Appointments
BA (Hons), Univ. Cambridge, 1990
MA, Law, Univ. Cambridge, 1993
MPhil, International Relations, Univ. Cambridge, 1991.
Role
Negotiating contracts to enable Kew to work abroad in accordance with both international and national laws and regulations.
Negotiation of contracts in accordance with international and national laws with an increasing emphasis on addressing the intellectual property implications of Kew’s research on plants. During 2001-2005 drafted, negotiated and concluded over 30 contracts (in English, French and/or Spanish) for access to plants, associated data and images and fair and equitable benefit-sharing between Kew, scientific partners, host Governments and local stakeholders in countries as diverse as Madagascar, Kenya, Cameroon, Mali, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Australia, Mexico, Chile and the United States of America. Role includes drafting, negotiating and concluding contractual arrangements between Kew, scientific partners and host Governments to enable Kew to implement projects funded by the Darwin Initiative. Advising on the intellectual property implications of Kew’s involvement in a variety of digitisation and electronic database initiatives, such as ENBI, IPNI and GBIF and on the development of appropriate model documentation (data supply guidelines; data supply agreements etc). Issues considered include: ownership of collections (specimens and images); ownership of copyright in Kew collections and in digital works; and publication of sensitive data (such as geo-references for threatened plant species). Practical implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity at Kew (model documents; staff guides etc) incorporating advice on: access to and ownership of plant genetic resources; commercial use of biodiversity, including intellectual property rights and confidentiality; legal and ethical considerations surrounding the collection of traditional knowledge; and benefit-sharing, including managing stakeholder expectation.
Projects
Selected Publications 2001-2005
Latorre García, F., Williams, C., ten Kate, K., & Cheyne, P. (2001). Results of the pilot project for botanical gardens: principles on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing, common policy guidelines to assist with their implementation and explanatory text. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 83 pp.
Williams, C., Davis, K. & Cheyne, P. (2003). The CBD for botanists: an introduction to the Convention on Biological Diversity for people working with botanical collections. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Darwin Initiative, 94 pp. + CD-ROM (available in English, French and Spanish).
Cheyne, P. (2003). Recent developments in biotechnology and intellectual property, access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing. In Smith, D. Handbook of fungal biotechnology (2nd Ed.). Marcel Dekker Inc, New York.
Cheyne, P. (2003). Access and benefit-sharing agreements: bridging the gap between scientific partnerships and the convention on biological diversity. In Smith, R.D., Dickie, J.B., Linington, S.H, Pritchard, H.W. & Probert, R.J. (eds). Seed conservation: turning science into practice. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 5-26.
Davis, K., Middlemiss, P., Paton, A. & Tenner, C. (2004). The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Herbarium and Seed Bank. Case study contribution. In Tobin, B., Cunningham, D. & Watanbe, K. The feasibility, practicality and cost of a certificate of origin system for genetic resources: preliminary results of comparative analysis of tracking material in biological resource centres and of proposals for a certificate scheme. CBD information document UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/3/INF/5, excerpted in CBD official document UNEP/CBD/WG-ABS/3/5.
Selected Publications pre-2001
Paton, A., ten Kate, K. & Cheyne, P. (2000). Herbarium collections: taking on the challenge of maintaining accessibility and information exchange within the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Diversity 5 (4).