The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), through its IP for Business Division (IPBD), in cooperation with the Instituto de Gestão da Qualidade e da Propriedade Intelectual (IGQPI – Institute for Quality Management and Intellectual Property), organized a One Day IP Workshop in Cabo Verde on October 29, 2025, titled IP Lab for Startups and MSMEs.
Held at IGQPI, the workshop brought together around 50 participants, including startup founders, innovative MSMEs, ecosystem partners and IGQPI representatives, to explore how intellectual property (IP) can be used as a practical business tool from the early stages of company growth.
From IP Awareness to Practical Tools
The program combined strategic content with hands-on demonstrations. WIPO and IGQPI introduced IP as a key business enabler, highlighting how trademarks, patents, industrial designs, copyrights and trade secrets can underpin competitiveness, investor confidence and market access, in line with the broader One Day IP Workshop approach implemented in other countries.
Participants were then guided through a live demonstration of the WIPO IP Diagnostic Tool, a free online self-assessment platform that helps businesses identify their intangible assets and potential IP rights, understand gaps and risks in their current practices, and receive personalized reports that can serve as the starting point for building an IP strategy.
Laying the Foundations for Startup IP Strategies
The Cabo Verde IP Lab for Startups and MSMEs is part of a broader effort to lay the first foundations of IP strategy in early-stage companies. Building on the general methodology for One Day IP Workshops, the initiative aims to create an environment of trust-based communication between entrepreneurs, IGQPI and WIPO, enabling more candid discussions of prospects, challenges and needs in connection with the IP system and help innovative startups and MSMEs better understand, from an early stage, the value of IP for their entrepreneurial projects, leveraging WIPO’s tools such as the IP Diagnostic Tool.
Next Steps: One-on-One IP Consultations for 30 Companies
As a direct follow-up to the One Day IP Workshop, WIPO, in collaboration with IGQPI will provide 30 selected startups and MSMEs with the opportunity to participate in one-on-one mentoring sessions with a dedicated team of IP experts. These consultations, to be conducted in the weeks following the workshop, will review each company’s IP situation based on its WIPO IP Diagnostics report, identify priority IP actions (e.g. trademarks, designs, patents, trade secrets and licensing) and finally outline an initial IP roadmap aligned with the company’s business objectives and growth plans.
This combined approach, awareness-raising, practical tools, and targeted one-on-one support between WIPO and IGQPI are taking a concrete step toward strengthening IP-driven entrepreneurship in Cabo Verde and reinforcing IGQPI’s role as a central provider of IP support services for startups and MSMEs.