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 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 led it as Director until 2022.
Through teaching, research, practice, and advisory work, he is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of innovators attuned to equitable sustainability challenges worldwide. He critically examines norms that either bolster or hinder the global innovation ecosystem’s ability to drive meaningful development.
His research centers on innovation ecosystems, including the adaptability of IP systems, legal and regulatory frameworks, and knowledge-sharing models among African innovators and entrepreneurs. It also explores evolving IT law domains such as data protection, AI governance, and information controls. He has published extensively and presented on practical and scholarly topics in innovation, IP, and IT law.
As a practitioner, he is licensed to practice law in California; patent law before the United States Patent and Trademark Office; and patent and trademark law before the Kenya Industrial Property Institute and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a second Bachelor of Science in Mathematics/Computer Science from the Colorado School of Mines; a PhD in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, where his advisor was Nobel Laureate Robert H. Grubbs (2005) and his research advanced methods for high-performance polymer materials; and a JD from Santa Clara University.
