HONOLULU -- Hawaiian activists locked the front and back entrances to the University of Hawaii's medical school on Thursday in protest to the school's patents on taro.

The UH Board of Regents was set to meet at the building about other topics.

The University's College of Tropical Agriculture was granted patents for taro in 2002. Hawaiian groups said the university did not invent taro and therefore has no right to own or license it.

Activist Walter Ritte led the group. Taro is owned collectively by Hawaiians and therefore UH should return the three varieties to the public domain, according to Ritte.

"We are saying you cannot own our taro. You cannot own our taro. It's so simple," Ritte said.

University researchers created the new taro and UH said under its contracts with professors it needs to protect their intellectual property. The new taro is not genetically modified, but created by traditional cross-breeding, officials said.

UH officials said the new taro is given to farmers for free but under the licensing agreement if a farmer makes a profit on the taro, the university gets to keep 2 percent.

The group unlocked the chains to the entrances at 9:30 a.m. after regents agreed to meet with the group at a later time to discuss the taro issue.

The protest did not affect classes. Students and faculty were able to enter through other locations.