WIPO Academy October 2022 Recap
November 3, 2022
The month of October 2022 has been busy for the WIPO Academy as several programs and projects are coming to a close while others are starting up. All the efforts are intended to support entrepreneurs, innovators and creators in developing countries, least developed countries and countries in transition.
Professional Development
The Professional Development Program (PDP) of the WIPO Academy successfully delivered the advanced course on management and commercialization of intellectual property (IP) assets jointly with the China National IP Administration from October 17 to 18, 2022 for the benefit of 12 government officials. The participants are now working on their final projects, which feature an implementation plan at the national level.
Distance Learning
The Distance Learning (DL) Program successfully delivered 12 courses in October. The DL courses were set up to meet the needs of key audiences, including 20 members of the judiciary in the Dominican Republic in collaboration with the WIPO Judicial Institute, a pilot session of the customized General Distance Learning Course on IP (DL-101) for Slovakia, and a session for the eTrade for Women Masterclass in partnership with UNCTAD. The Masterclass was organized on October 6, 2022 for the benefit of 27 female participants who are founders of digital companies, and the DL session focused on the importance of IP for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Additionally the DL program has 27 ongoing courses in October, and has opened registration for 12 other courses the same month.
University Partnerships
When it comes to the Academy’s partnerships with universities, October 2022 marked the beginning of a new collaboration between WIPO, the Malian Center for the Promotion of Industrial Property (CEMAPI), the Malian Bureau of Copyright (BUMDA) and Université des Sciences Juridiques et Politiques de Bamako (USJPB). A cooperation agreement was signed remotely with partners in Mali, and with WIPO Deputy Director General Hasan Kleib at WIPO headquarters in Geneva, in the presence of H.E. Mr. Mamadou Henri Konate, the Ambassador of Mali. WIPO will support USJPB with IP education and curriculum support, including the sharing of teaching resources and DL training.
WIPO Deputy Director General Hasan Kleib (right) met on October 25, 2022, with H.E. Mr. Mamadou Henri Konate, the Ambassador of Mali to sign of a memorandum of understanding between WIPO, the Malian Center for the Promotion of Industrial Property (CEMAPI), the Malian Bureau of Copyright (BUMDA) and Université des Sciences juridiques et politiques de Bamako (USJPB).
The first IP and Innovation for Latin America (IPILA) Conference took place from October 26 to 28 in hybrid format. The IPILA Conference is organized by WIPO, the World Trade Organization, the Center of IP and Innovation of Argentina, and Universidad de San Andrés to promote academic discussions and well-informed public policy debates about the importance of IP and innovation in Latin America. The conference covered a broad range of topics including:
- fostering innovative ecosystems in Latin America;
- patents & biosciences;
- data ethics and AI;
- gender diversity and innovation; and
- technology transfer, universities & entrepreneurs.
IP Training Institutions
The IP Training Institutions (IPTIs) in Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic (with the separate IPTIs of the industrial property and copyright offices), Egypt, El Salvador, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turkey organized more than 50 trainings in October 2022 to reach national audiences. Each month the training events of each IPTI are advertised on the IPTIs’ events calendar. The National IP Training Center in Trinidad and Tobago launched a 12-week course on the principles and practice of IP administration for the Hugh Wooding Law School on October 3. The course approaches IP law from the perspectives of the creator and inventor, the IP agent, as well as the examining authority. The National IP Academy (NIPA) of Egypt participated in a handicrafts exhibition for a MSMEs development agency in Egypt, and delivered training sessions on IP from October 12 to 13, focusing on the role of trademarks in businesses. NIPA trainers also gave advice to MSMEs present at the exhibition on how to identify, protect and exploit their IP assets.
(Left) Participants on the first day of the training course on the principles and practice of IP administration for Hugh Wooding Law School, organized by the National IP Training Center in Trinidad and Tobago. (Right) WIPO certified trainers of the National IP Academy of Egypt delivering an IP training for MSMEs at a handicrafts exhibition in October 2022.
Additionally, the WIPO Academy delivered four training of trainers in October to support 193 trainers among the IPTIs in progress, and two new IPTI projects kicked off with Armenia and Chile. In the spirit of fostering south-to-south cooperation, the WIPO Academy set up talks between the National IP Training Center of Trinidad and Tobago and the longest running IPTIs in the Latin America and Caribbean region, in Colombia and Peru, on October 12 and 19 to share experiences and discuss potential collaboration opportunities.