Jessica Lai was born in 1985, in Wellington, New Zealand, where she grew up. She studied law and chemistry at Victoria University of Wellington, where she obtained an LL.B. Hons (First Class), MSc (First Class) and a BSc. For her studies, Jessica was awarded a Victoria Graduate Award, Victoria Masters Award, Curtis-Gordon Research Scholarships and a prestigious New Zealand Vice-Chancellors´ Committee William Georgetti Scholarship.
In Wellington, she was a Research Assistant for Prof. Susy Frankel and Meredith Kolsky-Lewis, from 2007 to 2009, at the Faculty of Law of Victoria University. She also spent some time as an editor for the Victoria University of Wellington Law Review. Jessica has focused her studies in the fields of Intellectual Property, particularly Patent Law, and International Trade Law. She was also a Research Assistant and Tutor for the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, from 2005-2009.
Since February 2010, she has been a Research Assistant and Ph.D. candidate for Prof. Graber, working on the International Trade in Cultural Heritage Project (IT ICH).

Jessica ist 1985 in Wellington, Neuseeland, geboren und aufgewachsen. Sie studierte Jura und Chemie an der Victoria University in Wellington, wo sie ihren LL.B. Hons (First Class), MSc (First Class) und den BSc erwarb. Während ihres Studiums wurden Jessica verschiedene Preise und Stipendien verliehen, unter anderem der Victoria Graduate Award, Victoria Masters Award, Curtis-Gordon Research Scholarships und das renommierte New Zealand Vice-Chancellors´ Committee William Georgetti Scholarship.
Von 2007 bis 2009 war Jessica Forschungsmitarbeitende von Prof. Susy Frankel und Meredith Kolsky-Lewis an der Rechtswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Victoria University in Wellington. Nebenbei arbeitete sie als Herausgeberin der Victoria University of Wellington Law Review. Jessica hat sich in den Bereichen Geistiges Eigentum, insbesondere Patentrecht, sowie Internationales Handelsrecht spezialisiert. Von 2005 bis 2009 war sie zudem als Forschungsmitarbeiterin und Tutorin an der Fakultät für Chemie und Naturwissenschaften tätig.
Seit Februar 2010 ist Jessica wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin und Doktorandin bei Prof. Graber und arbeitet im IT ICH Forschungsprojekt.

Journal Articles

• Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Fairtrade: Voluntary Certification Standards in the Light of WIPO and WTO Law and Policymaking, in: Prometheus, 29(3)/2011, pp. 287-308; (together with Christoph B. Graber) (pre-published as i-call Working Paper No. 2011/01).
• The Protection of Māori Cultural Heritage: Post-Endorsement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in: Indigenous Nations & Peoples Law eJournal, 7(48)/2011.
• Māori Culture in the Modern World: Its Creation, Appropriation and Trade, Jessica Christine Lai, University of Lucerne, Switzerland, i-call Working Paper No. 02 (2010)
• Penicillins: Their Chemical History and Legal Disputes in New Zealand, in: CiNZ (Chemistry in New Zealand), 73(3)/2009, pp. 116-124.
• Validity of Obviousness in the Patent Process: A Case Study of Aktiebolaget (LOSEC), in: VUWLR (Victoria University of Wellington Law Review), 38(3)/2007, pp. 603-628.
• The Patentability of Methods of Medical Treatment of Human Illnesses in New Zealand: Practitioners and Non-Practitioners, Loman Friedlander Award Runner-up, Awarded by the NZ Institute of Patent Attorneys (published at www.nzipa.org.nz).

Talks

• Alternative Models for TK and Governance, panel chaired at the conference “Trade, Intellectual Property and the Knowledge Assets of Indigenous Peoples: The Development Frontier”, Victoria University of Wellington, 8-10 December 2010.

• Nanostructured Calcium Silicate (NCaSil) Solar Cells, paper presented at the ASES 2009 Conference (Buffalo, U.S., May 13, 2009), and published in the Conference Proceedings.

• Gel-State Calcium Silicate Solar Cells and an Attempt at Photoactive Synthetic Silicates: Cation Treated Tetraethoxysiloxane, paper presented at the ASES 2009 Conference (Buffalo, U.S., May 13, 2009), and published in the Conference Proceedings.