Academy Signs Agreement With Brazil
December 21, 2017
The WIPO Academy Executive Director, Mr. Sherif Saadallah, and the President of the National Institute of Industrial Property of Brazil (INPI Brazil), Mr. Luiz Otávio Pimentel, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the WIPO Brazil Office in Rio de Janeiro, which transfers the management and administration of the WIPO Academy Industrial Property Distance Learning (DL) courses in Portuguese to INPI Brazil.
The WIPO Academy and INPI Brazil have been cooperating in the area of DL since 2012. Almost 57,000 Brazilians have participated in DL courses offered by the WIPO Academy to date.
Brazilian Universities Consortium
As part of the agreement, a new consortium of universities managed by INPI Brazil will offer academic credits for WIPO DL courses as part of their degree programs. This is the first official university consortium offering WIPO DL courses. The following six universities from the southern region of Brazil are part of the consortium so far:
- Regional University of Blumenau Foundation
- University of the State of Santa Catarina
- Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense
- Community University of the Region of Chapecó
- University of Southern Santa Catarina
- State University of Maringá
Other capacity-building activities that are also promised in the agreement include joint workshops, access to symposia and seminars, the offering of IP courses to Brazilian government officials and the provision of training materials.