夏威夷大學瑪諾亞（Manoa）分校7日宣布，該校決定把抗病芋頭育種技術開發相關的三項專利權，讓渡給夏威夷原住民社群。芋頭為塊根作物，肉色呈紫色，是製作夏威夷主食──芋泥的主要材料。
此事相關之專利權爭議緣起於1990年代，當時夏威夷大學學者應薩摩亞農民之邀，協助根除芋頭作物的枯葉病。研究人員培育取得帛琉芋農與官員的指定用途授權後，將帛琉種與夏威夷種芋頭雜交，培育出一系列芋頭株；最後研究人員運用傳統雜交技術培育出三種抗病力較高的植株，並於2002年取得專利權。
但夏威夷原住民反對以人為操弄方式（包括傳統雜交技術或基因改造技術）培育芋頭變種。來自夏威夷摩洛凱島（Molokai）的抗議人士瑞特指出，芋頭是夏威夷傳統文化中最神聖的部分。因此，數個團體發起了數起反對專利的抗議活動。
此外，夏威夷人也抗議說，要種植專利芋頭的農戶必須向夏威夷大學申請許可，並且還被禁止販賣、散佈、繁殖或對芋頭進行研究。為了保障夏威夷大學的專利權，農民還必須讓夏威夷大學的人員進入他們的所有地，對他們的芋頭取樣，以確保他們沒有非法繁殖夏威夷大學的資產。
5月18日，瑞特等夏威夷原住民前往夏威夷大學抗議。他們以鏈條鎖住校方董事會會議室大門，阻擋董事盡駐，希望獲得校方對此議題的重視。該次行動維持一小時，達成訴求目的後即解除封鎖行動。
夏威夷大學瑪諾亞分校副校長歐斯崔德回應說：「夏威夷大學當然對本土文化抱持著相當的尊重及敏感度……芋頭對夏威夷居民來說是非常獨特的，因為它是祖靈的化身，因此，我們對持有專利的政策可以有個例外。」
目前在夏威夷社群內部，有關專利註冊的話題仍在持續討論中。
The University of Hawaii at Manoa said Wednesday that it will assign three patents related to development of hybrid disease resistant taros to the greater Native Hawaiian community.
The purple root vegetable is made into the Hawaiian staple food, poi.
The patents in question arose from work conducted by a UH faculty member in the 1990s, at the request of Samoan taro growers, to address the near eradication of their taro crops to a leaf blight.
The researcher developed a number of cultivars from crosses of Hawaiian and Palauan taro strains. The Palauan strains were obtained specifically for this purpose with the consent - including proper permitting - of Palauan taro growers and Palauan government officials.
Using traditional breeding techniques, the UH researcher produced three strains that were shown to have increased disease resistance. The patents were granted in 2002.
Native Hawaiian groups object to the manipulation of taro varieties, whether by hybridization or genetic engineering. Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte of Molokai, says nothing in Hawaiian culture is more sacred than the taro. The groups have staged a number of demonstrations protesting the patents.
The Hawaiians object that farmers who wish to grow these patented taro must license them from UH and are prohibited from selling, distributing, breeding or conducting research on them. They must allow UH personnel to enter their property and sample their taro to make sure they are not illegally breeding UH's property.
On May 18, Ritte and other Hawaiian men locked and chained the doors to the UH Board of Regents meeting room and stood before the doorway barring the Regents' way, to gain attention for their cause. After an hour, they unlocked the doors, but their point had been made.
"The University of Hawaii has a strong desire to maintain appropriate respect and sensitivity to the indigenous Hawaiian host culture," said UH Manoa Vice Chancellor for Research Gary Ostrander. "Taro is unique to the Hawaiian people in that it represents the embodiment of their sacred ancestor. As such, it is appropriate to make an exception to our standard policy of holding all patents."
Discussions are under way within the Hawaiian community on the appropriate entity to receive the patents.
