Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Jessica Lai

Jessica Lai
Born1985
AwardsRutherford Discovery Fellowship
Academic background
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington, University of Lucerne, Victoria University of Wellington
Thesis
Academic advisorsThomas Borrmann, Michael J Richardson
Academic work
InstitutionsVictoria University of Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington Victoria Business School

Jessica Christine Lai is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at Victoria University of Wellington, specialising in the interaction of intellectual property rights and indigenous knowledge.

Academic career

Lai is trained as a chemist, having completed a Master of Science in 2009 in chemistry with a thesis titled The Use of Nanostructured Calcium Silicate in Solar Cells at the Victoria University of Wellington.[1] Lai completed her Doctor of Law in 2013 at the University of Lucerne, where she also conducted postdoctoral research.[2][3] Lai was awarded a Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to work at the Max-Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich.[3] Lai then returned to New Zealand to join the faculty of the School of Accounting and Commercial Law at Victoria University of Wellington, rising to full professor.[3]

Lai's research focuses on the interaction between Western intellectual property systems and indigenous knowledge, specifically Mātauranga Māori. She has investigated how the patenting system addresses problematic technologies such as a gene-related technology, and also examines law and feminism, knowledge theorisation and legal sociology. Lai has written publicly about issues such as country of origin labelling, the difference between a trade mark and a certification mark in regards to the 'Rainbow tick', and differences between men and women in STEM.[4][5][6][2][3]

In 2018 Lai and colleague Susie Frankel were awarded a Marsden grant on "Mission Creep” in the Pharmaceutical Industry and its Impact on Innovation and Health. In 2021, Lai was awarded a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship for a project titled Patents and power: a critical analysis of knowledge governance.[2]

Selected works

Authored and edited books

Journal articles

References

  1. ^ Lai, Jessica Christine (2009). The Use of Nanostructured Calcium Silicate in Solar Cells (MSc thesis). Open Access Repository Victoria University of Wellington. doi:10.26686/WGTN.16967545.
  2. ^ a b c "Jessica Lai". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington. "Academic profile: Professor Jessica Lai". people.wgtn.ac.nz. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  4. ^ Lai, Samuel Becher, Dr Jessica (24 October 2018). "What fake honey and trade wars have in common". Newsroom. Retrieved 10 May 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Lai, Dr Jessica (2 June 2019). "'Rainbow Tick' is not a certification mark". Newsroom. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  6. ^ Lai, Dr Jessica (5 June 2019). "Women's gamble in an old boys club". Newsroom. Retrieved 10 May 2024.