Danielle Conway-Jones

Danielle Conway-Jones

U.S. Fulbright Senior Scholar

Media Profile

“No field in law is hotter than intellectual property. However, the notions of property vary dramatically between indigenous peoples and the tangible real property regime that western wealth is based and which forms the foundations of intellectual property. I argue that traditional knowledge is worthy of protection because there is great potential for western commodification and exploitation of this knowledge.”

Professor Danielle Conway-Jones is one of six Americans to be granted a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award in 2006. Through her Fulbright Award Conway-Jones will conduct lectures on intellectual property law regimes and research the rights of Indigenous Peoples in traditional knowledge, cultural expression and genetic resources at La Trobe University. 

Conway-Jones is a Professor of Law and Director of the Hawaii Procurement Institute at the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii – Manoa. She is a widely recognised speaker and a dedicated professional who has pursued the exploration of intellectual property law as a vehicle for social activism and justice. She has written cutting-edge articles dealing with the substance and policy of intellectual property law, government contract law, trademark law and globalisation.

In the Faculty of Law and Management at La Trobe University, Conway-Jones will lecture in the LLM Program of Global Business Law on the subject of U.S. Intellectual Property and U.S. Government Contract Law. Conway-Jones will also research Australia’s recognition and protection of Aboriginal traditional knowledge and the intersection between Australia’s laws and the laws of the Aboriginal peoples to identify the extent to which traditional knowledge can be protected by intellectual property law. 

“My goal is to explore the similarities between Australia’s social and political goals for an intellectual property regime with similar goals being considered by indigenous Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders and communities in Asia.”

Through her Australian experience of cross-cultural analysis and research into the social, political and economic implications of recognising traditional knowledge as a form of intellectual property, Conway-Jones hopes to enhance current debate in Hawaii and throughout indigenous communities globally, to protect the unique cultural resources of traditional knowledge.