WIPO Academy Fortifies Cooperation with Brazil
September 4, 2023
WIPO Academy Executive Director, Mr. Sherif Saadallah, signed an agreement with Mr. Júlio César Castelo Branco Reis Moreira, Acting President of the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) of Brazil on August 22, 2023 to build on the existing cooperation between both institutions.
In this new chapter of cooperation, the WIPO Academy and INPI Brazil will offer targeted intellectual property (IP) courses for Brazilian government officials and enterprises, in addition to scaling up the WIPO Summer School offerings in Brazil for the benefit of university students and young professionals. The WIPO Academy and INPI Brazil will jointly organize specialized IP training for Lusophone government officials.
Under the new agreement, INPI Brazil will administer additional WIPO Academy Distance Learning (DL) courses in Portuguese, alongside developing customized versions of the course content with reference to Brazilian laws and case studies. INPI Brazil will also manage a consortium of Brazilian universities that will offer academic credits for the WIPO Academy’s DL courses.
Mr. Saadallah and Ms. Beatriz Amorim-Borher, Director of the Division for Latin America and the Caribbean at WIPO, had high level meetings with government officials in Brazil. They met with Minister Luciana Santos, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation to highlight the empowerment of women in STEM through IP education, training and skills-building. Mr. Saadallah and Ms. Amorim-Borher also discussed IP’s catalytic role with Mr. Marcos Souza, Secretary of Copyright and Intellectual Rights of the Ministry of Culture, Ms. Andrea Macera, Under Secretary of the Secretariat for Competitiveness and Regulation and officials from the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services. Meetings were also held with Ms. Marianna Moscardo, Counsellor and Deputy Director General of the Rio Branco Institute on IP training for diplomats and trade officials, and with Minister Luciano Mazza de Andrade, Director of the Science, Technology and Intellectual Property Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on issues relating to bilateral cooperation between Brazil and WIPO.
IP of the Future
During his presence in Brazil, Mr. Saadallah participated in the closing plenary panel of the 43rd International Congress of the Brazilian IP Association (ABPI) with Ms. Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for IP and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and Mr. Etienne Sanz de Acedo, CEO of the International Trademark Association. The closing panel addressed IP of the future and the agile approaches needed for continuing advancements in all technological and scientific fields.
Through the agile and people-centered approach of the WIPO Academy’s programs we hope to ensure that the needs of this evolving landscape can be met. With our support, we hope that IP can be used for good by a global population equipped with the knowledge and tools needed to benefit from IP as a catalyst for jobs, investments, business growth and economic and social development. This is why WIPO is working to build a more inclusive IP ecosystem. The concept, driven by the firm belief that IP is relevant to everyone, everywhere, is the Academy’s pledge to engage IP professionals, academic groups, businesses run by women and youth, innovators, policymakers, and scientists all over the world in a practical understanding of how to use the IP system for the good of society. And as we fulfill this commitment we are relying on you, on Member States, and on all stakeholders involved to join us in this effort as active players in shaping an inclusive future of IP together.
Mr. Sherif Saadallah, Executive Director of the WIPO Academy