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Apply Now: WIPO Global Awards 2025 Recognizes Startups, SMEs and Spinouts

Geneva, January 15, 2025
PR/2025/932

The WIPO Global Awards 2025 competition opened today with a call for applications from startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and university spinouts that use intellectual property (IP) to drive economic growth and improve societies.

Launched in 2022, the Global Awards celebrates enterprises using IP not only for business success, but also as a catalyst for economic and social impact. Winners benefit from exclusive mentoring to enhance their use of IP as a strategic asset—encompassing IP commercialization, fundraising, partnership building, publicity support, and more.

From today, the WIPO Global Awards 2025 is seeking applications from startups, SMEs, university spinouts and other smaller enterprises from across business sectors, including health, environment, creativity, agrifood, and information and communication technology (ICT). The application period ends March 31, 2025.

An independent jury of experts will select ten winning enterprises, which will be announced during an awards ceremony during the WIPO Assemblies in July 2025 at WIPO’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. New this year, special recognition will be given to award winners that are led by women and youth entrepreneurs.

The WIPO Global Awards showcase how intellectual property empowers companies to bring to the market great products, while tackling local and global challenges and improving lives. In 2025, we’re proud to deepen our commitment to inclusivity and innovation by recognizing outstanding women and youth entrepreneurs among the winners as part of the competition. These new special mentions reflect WIPO’s vision for a future where everyone, everywhere, benefits from IP-driven solutions. Please apply and join the global movement of WIPO Global Award change-makers.

WIPO Director General Daren Tang

Application conditions can be found in the competition rules.

The Awards aim to encourage the commercialization of IP assets by showcasing winning inventors, creators and entrepreneurs using IP to achieve their business goals, generate income, create jobs, tackle local and global challenges, and support community and national development.

How to apply

Companies from around the globe are invited to submit applications through March 31, 2025, at 23:59 Central European Time. The application form is available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.

About WIPO

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the United Nations agency that serves the world’s innovators and creators, ensuring that their ideas travel safely to the market and improve lives everywhere.

We do so by providing services that enable creators, innovators and entrepreneurs to protect and promote their intellectual property (IP) across borders and acting as a forum for addressing cutting-edge IP issues. Our IP data and information guide decisionmakers the world over. And our impact-driven projects and technical assistance ensure IP benefits everyone, everywhere.

For more information, please contact the News and Media Division at WIPO:
  • Tel: (+41 22) 338 81 61 / 338 72 24
  • E-mail
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