WIPO-WEF Inventor Assistance Program Launched

April 20, 2015

On April 15 and 16, 2015, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), together with the World Economic Forum (WEF), launched in Colombia a new Inventor Assistance Program (IAP) for developing countries designed to assist both individuals and small entities which lack the financial resources to effectively use and exploit the patent system in their home countries on their own.

The IAP aims to make the patent system more accessible, by matching financially under-resourced inventors of promising new technologies and ideas with qualified pro bono IP counsel, so as to assist them in securing patent protection for their inventions.

Colombia --the first pilot country for this program, hosted a launch event for the WIPO-WEF IAP in the city of Medellin. On April 15, the official launch of the new WIPO initiative was announced by the representative of the Colombian Government, Mr. Pablo Felipe Robledo Del Castillo, Superintendente de Industria y Comercio; the representative of the WEF, Muireann Mageras, Project Manager of the IAP; Mr. John Villasenor, Chair of the Steering Committee of the IAP and Mr. Marco M. Alemán, Acting Director of the Patent Law Division on behalf of the WIPO Director General, Dr. Francis Gurry. The launching ceremony was also attended by Mr. Alejandro Roca Campaña, Senior Director of the Access to Information and Knowledge Division, WIPO; Mr. Corey Salsberg, Head of International IP Policies at Novartis and Member of the IAP Steering Committee; and Mr. Alvaro Correa, Partner, Baker and Mackenzie and Member of the IAP Steering Committee.

The event was followed by a Seminar on Innovation and Patents, which was attended by nearly 400 participants, who applauded the IAP as a very useful and promising initiative.  In the framework of the Seminar, a new WIPO Technology and innovation Support Center (TISC) was launched in cooperation with Ruta N, a leading innovation hub located in Medellin.