By contract
Data, results and IP are governed by a written agreement for each project.
START WITH A PLANT
I have a plant. What can it do?
It's been used for generations, or it grows on my land, or it's part of what I already produce. But there's almost no science on it, so I can't tell what it's worth.
“I searched and found almost nothing. Is that good news or bad news?”
Has anyone ever studied it?
Maybe no one has. Icaros brings together what's already known about a plant and its compounds, and predicts bioactivity where no one has looked yet. A prediction is a hypothesis to test, not a result.
Is it worth paying for a lab before I know anything?
Not blindly. I'd rather know which activities are most likely before I spend on assays.
What could it be used for?
Food and supplements, skin, crops or medicine. Each industry looks for something different.
If it turns out to be valuable, can I protect it?
I want to know whether it can be protected before I invest, not after. Moka looks at the IP from the start.
Can I legally use it? Who else has rights to it?
That depends on where the plant comes from, not on where I am. Many countries regulate access to their plants and the traditional knowledge around them, and may require prior consent and benefit-sharing.
Under the Nagoya Protocol, benefits from using genetic resources must be shared fairly with the providing country, on mutually agreed terms. (Nagoya Protocol, art. 5)
If a community has always used it, access to their knowledge may require their consent too. (Nagoya Protocol, art. 7)
Rules differ by country. This isn't legal advice.
How does it work?
- I bring the plant: a native species, my own crop, a plant someone has always used.
- Moka finds out what it can do.
- Moka takes it to extract, fraction or molecule.
Clear terms, in writing.
Traceable origin
Every plant traceable together with the communities.