WIPO National IP Essay Competition 2024

May 6, 2024

Every year on April 26, we celebrate the World Intellectual Property (IP) Day to learn more about the role that IP rights play in encouraging innovation and creativity, and ultimately in shaping our world. This year’s celebration is themed “IP and SDGs: Building Our Common Future with Innovation and Creativity”, highlighting the role that IP plays in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

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To build our common future and achieve the SDGs, we need to re-think how we live, work and play. This year’s campaign is an opportunity to explore how IP encourages and can amplify the innovative and creative solutions that are so crucial to building our common future. The SDGs are an interdependent blueprint for people, peace, prosperity, and our planet. The challenges we face are deep-seated and complex. Therefore, development efforts must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability. We need to use our ingenuity, to achieve a sustainable future for everyone, everywhere.

This year’s essay theme provides an opportunity for students of tertiary institutions to explore the various ways in which IP can support Nigeria’s goal of a addressing food insecurity. IP is especially important in achieving sustainable agriculture for long term food security in Nigeria. Sustainable agriculture encourages farming methods and systems which meet society’s present needs without negative effects on the environmental quality or the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The essay competition topic “IP and Sustainable Agriculture: Combating Food Insecurity in Nigeria” is an opportunity for students to reflect on the relationship between IP and SDG’s, with a primary focus on the opportunities and challenges for harnessing IP towards achieving food security in Nigeria.

Essay entries will be assessed for factual accuracy, imagination, originality, creative and innovative thought, by an independent expert Panel of Judges drawn from leading IP practitioners and entrepreneurs, academics, policy experts, scholars, and regulators across the country. Participation in this competition will provide students with an excellent opportunity to research and learn more about the field of intellectual property and its interaction with SGDs, while yet contributing directly to policy making as they explore policy ideas along the lines of this year’s essay topic.

Who can participate:

The national competition is open to all registered students (undergraduate and postgraduate) of recognized tertiary institutions in Nigeria; Universities, Colleges of Education, Polytechnics, as well as professional or vocational institutions.

Entry requirements:

  • Font- 12 Arial (Black);
  • The essay shall be written in English in not less than 500 but not more than 1,500 words (500min- 1500 max), bibliography and references excluded;
  • Double-line spacing and page numbered;
  • Submissions must be made in word and pdf format;
  • Do not include any pictures or other graphical illustrations;
  • Entries must not contain any indication as to the names, school, number, email address or other means of identification or affiliation of its author and/or any other person;
  • Plagiarism of any sort will result in disqualification;
  • Submissions received after the announced deadline of May 31, 2024 will not be considered.

More information on submissions. Winners of the competition will be announced in June 2024.

Prizes to be won

  • Five (5) scholarship spots to attend the WIPO Summer Schools on Intellectual Property.
  • Fellowship spots on the West African Young Innovation Leaders Fellowship.
  • Authors of the top 15 essays will receive special WIPO Packages and Certificates of Achievement.
  • The top three essays will be submitted to WIPO for possible publication in the WIPO Magazine, subject to WIPO publication schedule and review.
  • All authors of winning essays will receive scholarships to undertake any of the WIPO Distance Learning (DL) courses.
  • Several other exciting IP learning and professional capacity building prizes will be won!

What our judges will look out for:

  1. Originality;
  2. Structural flow, clarity of thought and expression, grammatical accuracy and coherence;
  3. Relevance to the field of intellectual property (IP);
  4. Relevance to national, regional and/or international context;
  5. Clear policy suggestions, proposals and/or pathways.