What is the MIPD class of 2022 up to?
June 1, 2023
Liliyana da Silva and Bright Chalwe are intellectual property (IP) change makers and graduates of the Joint Master’s Degree Program on IP and Development Policy (MIPD) offered by WIPO; the Korean Intellectual Property Office; the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea; and the Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management (KDI School). Liliyana and Bright both graduated in 2022 and have already played an active role in shaping the IP systems of their respective home countries, Timor-Leste and Zambia.
They credit the MIPD with helping them forge a career in IP policy thanks to the program’s practical courses, supportive faculty and valuable network of alumni involved in IP policy across the world.
Liliyana da Silva
Liliyana da Silva spent four years in the Republic of Korea pursuing her undergraduate studies in Business Administration at Kangnam University. As she was finalizing her undergraduate studies in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic started, forcing her to seek opportunities within the country before graduating in 2021. To survive the circumstances she was facing, she applied for the only graduate program she was eligible for at KDI School, as this particular university was very popular among Timorese students. The MIPD seemed to be a perfect fit for her, as she realized after some initial research that her home country of Timor-Leste did not have an IP system, so she figured that gaining expertise in this field could help her support her country.
By studying IP, I felt like I could make a difference in my country to help ensure that it has a system of IP protection for entrepreneurs, innovators and creators. WIPO was an amazing source of support during my studies, and KDI School was a great place to study. The professors were all great experts in their fields of IP and the participants all brought different perspectives on IP given their different country backgrounds.
Liliyana da Silva, IP Coordinator
She had very little knowledge of IP prior to the MIPD, having been exposed to the topic in one case study addressing trademark infringement during her undergraduate classes. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Liliyana was not able to meet all the professors and classmates in-person during the MIPD because they could not all travel to the Republic of Korea for the residential phase. The MIPD was delivered in hybrid format as only five students could follow the program in-person in the Republic of Korea and the rest joined remotely. She hopes to one day meet all her classmates in-person as they all work in the same field and are passionate about IP.
After graduating from the MIPD program in 2022, Liliyana returned to Timor-Leste and started working for the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry when she received a call from the Vice Minister of Commerce and Industry offering her an opportunity to work on setting up an IP system in the country, to help Timor-Leste with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). During a visit of various delegations from Timor-Leste to WIPO for the signing of an agreement on technical assistance in the area of IP, one of the national authorities found out that Liliyana is the only Timorese with the qualifications and expertise in IP policy, therefore her qualifications were instrumental for her country’s IP system development. She was hired by WIPO as a national IP expert for a technical assistance project based at the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry as a representative on the ground. She is currently responsible for the development of a draft industrial property code and regulations, and the establishment of a national industrial property office in her country.
Through her work Liliyana provides expert advice to the stakeholder groups involved in Timor-Leste’s ascension to WTO using the technical knowledge she gained during the MIPD. Her goal is to continue supporting local entrepreneurs and creators by building a solid IP system for them.
Be curious about new things, it might be the start of good things to come. It all started with my curiosity about intellectual property and now I am literally doing work that contributes to my country’s economic diversification. I also want to help the numerous young inventors in my country whose intellectual property rights are being exploited and misused by establishing a good IP system for them with strong enforcement.
Liliyana da Silva, IP Coordinator
Bright Chalwe
Bright Chalwe is another graduate of the MIPD who is supporting the enhancement of the IP system in his home country of Zambia. He contributed to the revision of the IP strategy of Zambia, and started working in technology transfer at the National Technology Business Centre of Zambia early on in his career. It quickly became apparent that IP knowledge was essential for the role.
He went to Hyderabad, India for a an international certificate course on IP and asset management when he found out from his peers about the WIPO Academy offerings including the Joint Master’s Degree Programs. He started with the WIPO Academy’s General Distance Learning Course (DL-101), followed by the WIPO-South Africa Summer School in 2013.
Eventually, Bright applied for the Master’s Degree in IP jointly offered by the WIPO Academy, the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), and Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe, and was admitted with a full scholarship. He graduated in 2018 with a certificate of excellence attesting to his achievement as second best graduating student in the cohort. At that time his role at the National Technology Business Center had transformed into Business Development Specialist, which among other responsibilities consists of assisting innovators and entrepreneurs on how to include IP in their business strategies.
Bright also participated in a Professional Development Program (PDP) Workshop on IP Innovation Policy organized by WIPO and the National Intellectual Property Management Office of South Africa (NIPMO) in South Africa in 2019. The PDP workshop inspired him to learn more about policy issues as they relate to innovation given that this area is relevant to his professional background in technology transfer. He felt the need to expand his knowledge in IP policy even further so he applied for the MIPD at KDI School. Bright ended up participating in the MIPD in-person and graduating as part of the class of 2022, along with Liliyana.
I learned a lot about the policy aspects of IP during the Master’s program at KDI School. I found this topic area to be very interesting, particularly the courses on patents and innovation. The program exceeded my expectations as it built on the practical knowledge and skills I needed in my career. I am still in touch with the alumni of the program because we all work in the same field so our paths are bound to cross again.
Bright Chalwe, Business Development Specialist at the National Technology Business Center of Zambia
Upon his return to Zambia, Bright started to build on the work he was doing before embarking on the MIPD to support local innovators and entrepreneurs. He also participated in the creation of an IP policy for Copperbelt University. Bright is actively involved in the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, which is hosted by the women entrepreneurship access center in Zambia with the support of USAID, by delivering IP trainings.
He collaborates often with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency of Zambia. In 2022 Bright was engaged by ARIPO as a guest speaker under AfriIPI, a European Union IP Office project, on how to promote utility models and industrial designs in ARIPO member states. He is involved in the WIPO IP Training Institution under development for ARIPO as part of the East African cohort of trainers. In his free time, Bright volunteers as a board member of the Global IP Alliance, a global network of IP professionals working to promote IP awareness, education, collaboration, and inclusion worldwide.
I would encourage individuals seeking advanced knowledge in IP to consider the WIPO Joint Master’s programs, though they may not choose to do more than one, as this was a personal challenge I presented to myself and came out victorious.
Bright Chalwe, Business Development Specialist at the National Technology Business Centre in Zambia
In the future, Bright hopes to set up his own private practice to help business embrace IP as a source of competitive advantage, and plans on becoming a university lecturer specializing in IP.
Snapshots from their studies
Interested in building your IP knowledge and skills?
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- What is intellectual property (IP)?
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