WIPO Colloquium: COVID-19 and IP Teaching
July 26, 2021
The WIPO Academy hosted a virtual colloquium from July 21 to 22, 2021 for the universities and partners of its Joint Master’s Degree Programs. The colloquium was an opportunity for the universities, partner intellectual property (IP) offices and regional IP organizations to exchange experiences on the teaching of the programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on lessons learnt, participants of the colloquium made recommendations for the delivery of future editions of the Joint Master’s Degree Programs.
Mr. Sherif Saadallah, Executive Director of the WIPO Academy, and Professor Marco Ricolfi, co-founder of the first WIPO Joint Master’s Degree Program at the University of Turin, gave the opening remarks.
Mr. Saadallah highlighted WIPO Academy’s new vision for IP higher education, which focuses on linkages with other academic disciplines such as business, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Our graduates are the future leaders and users of the IP system. Whichever career paths they choose, they will be the ones we look to for their creativity and innovation and their capacity to use the IP system for the benefit of everyone. How do we ensure that our IP teaching provides them with the knowledge and skills to take up these roles? How do we ensure that in addition to teaching future IP lawyers, future IP academics and IP public servants, we also teach future business leaders and future entrepreneurs?
Mr. Sherif Saadallah, Executive Director of the WIPO Academy
Over 50 academics, professors and heads of partner IP offices and regional IP organizations participated in the colloquium including: Mr. Bemanya Twebase, Director General of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization; Dr. Denis Loukou Bohoussou, Director General of African Intellectual Property Organization; Professor Habip Asan, President of Turkish Patent and Trademark Office; Dr. Piotr Zakrzewski, Vice President of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland; Ms. Mónica Gay, Vice President of the National Institute of Industrial Property of Argentina; and Mr. Dae Soon Jung, Director of Multilateral Affairs at Korean Intellectual Property Office.
What was covered during the colloquium?
The colloquium covered a range of topics 
such as:
- The impact of COVID-19 on IP teaching and research;
- Access to IP teaching and resource materials (scientific resources, online platforms and open access publishing);
- Applied IP knowledge and skills-building;
- Multidisciplinary approaches to IP, business studies, innovation and entrepreneurship; and
- The WIPO International Network for Intellectual Property Education (WINIPE).
Participants discussed efforts to advance the establishment of the WIPO International Network for Intellectual Property Education (WINIPE).
What is WINIPE?
WINIPE is a network for sharing ideas, IP academic resources and experiences among participants from WIPO university partners with a view to strengthening cooperation among the Joint Master’s Degree Programs. WINIPE was first proposed by the Deans and Directors of the Joint Master’s Degree Programs in July 2019 at the Tongji International IP Forum and is scheduled to launch in December 2021.