Dr. Isaac Michael Rutenberg is a practicing intellectual property (IP) lawyer and Associate Professor of ICT Policy and Innovation. As Advisor to the CEO of CIFOR-ICRAF, he is developing a program that empowers scientists and policymakers working at the nexus of emerging technologies—primarily artificial intelligence—agroforestry, climate change, and land management.
In 2012, he founded the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT) at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya, and served as its Director until 2022.
Through his teaching, research, legal practice, and advisory work, Dr. Rutenberg is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of innovators equipped to address equitable sustainability challenges worldwide. His scholarship critically examines the norms and systems that either strengthen or constrain the global innovation ecosystem’s capacity to drive meaningful and inclusive development.
His research focuses on innovation ecosystems, including the adaptability of intellectual property systems, legal and regulatory frameworks, and knowledge-sharing models among African innovators and entrepreneurs. He also explores evolving areas of information technology law, including data protection, artificial intelligence governance, and information controls. He has published extensively and presented on both practical and scholarly issues relating to innovation, IP, and IT law.
As a legal practitioner, he is licensed to practice law in California; to practice patent law before the United States Patent and Trademark Office; and to practice patent and trademark law before the Kenya Industrial Property Institute and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization.
Dr. Rutenberg holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a second Bachelor of Science in Mathematics/Computer Science from the Colorado School of Mines. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, where his advisor was Nobel Laureate Robert H. Grubbs (2005) and where his research advanced methods for high-performance polymer materials. He also holds a Juris Doctor (JD) from Santa Clara University.
 lawyer and Associate Professor of ICT Policy and Innovation. As Advisor to the CEO of CIFOR-ICRAF, he is developing a program that empowers scientists and policymakers working at the nexus of emerging technologies—primarily artificial intelligence—agroforestry, climate change, and land management.){kind=link}