New Pilot: Women Leaders in IP and Invention Launchpad
October 14, 2021
An annual training course entitled “Women Leaders in IP and Invention Launchpad” for women entrepreneurs and inventors was piloted virtually from October 4 to 12, 2021. The new training course is the brainchild of the WIPO Academy, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), and the Korean Women Inventors Association (KWIA). The pilot session was organized jointly with the National Registry of Costa Rica and the National Institute for Women in Costa Rica.
The training course, which is funded by the Republic of Korea Funds-in-Trust for IP Education, will be held in a different region each year. The course is tailored to empower women in developing countries, least developed countries and countries in transition to take a leading role in the field of intellectual property (IP) and innovation.
Some 150 female participants from Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru took part in the pilot which was held in Spanish for the Latin American and Caribbean Region. The new training course was developed by women for women to encourage innovative activities and the use of IP tools for economic and business opportunities.
What is covered in the Women Leaders in IP and Invention Launchpad?
The training course uses a combination of lectures, case studies and practical exercises to address the basics of IP, and share useful skills for developing new ideas. The topics covered in the program include:
- How to protect your IP and be creative;
- Practice ways to commercialize inventions: funding, business startups and marketing;
- Practical solutions that best support women inventors and entrepreneurs;
- Public policies to support women entrepreneurs; and
- Common challenges and opportunities.
The Women Leaders in IP and Invention Launchpad is part of the WIPO Academy’s efforts at fostering gender parity in IP education. More than 50% of the Academy’s participants are women, and WIPO is committed to developing policy and activities in support of enhancing gender parity by promoting women’s involvement in economic growth through IP.