From the 6th edition of Rio Innovation Week, held August 4–7 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as part of the WIPO Initiative for Startups in Latin America
Rio Innovation Week (RIW) now in its 6th edition drew close to 250,000 participants, 2,000 startups, and delegations from 30 countries to Rio de Janeiro making it the premier meeting place for the tech and startup ecosystem in Latin America.
WIPO's participation in RIW was part of a broader strategic initiative to strengthen engagement with startups and entrepreneurs across the region. A dedicated WIPO-branded booth served as an information hub throughout the event and hosted four daily panel sessions on topics ranging from support schemes for SMEs and AI and intellectual property for startups, to IP considerations in healthcare commercialization.
A Day of Focused, Personalized Mentoring
At the heart of WIPO's program was a One-Day IP Workshop, delivered through the joint efforts of the IP for Business Division (IPBD), the WIPO Brazil Office (WBO), and the PCT International Cooperation Division (PCTICD). Thirteen high-potential Brazilian startups, pre-selected through WIPO's local networks, took part in individualized mentoring sessions with a team combining WIPO specialists, external IP experts, and examiners from Brazil's National Industrial Property Institute (INPI).
Each participating startup completed a WIPO IP Diagnostics Report ahead of the event, giving the mentoring team a solid foundation for substantive, business-oriented dialogue from the outset. Rather than generic advice, each company received a tailored consultation that mapped its specific intangible assets, weighed protection strategies against its commercial goals, and produced concrete next steps for building partnerships and pursuing growth.
From Diagnosis to Direction
Spanning sectors as diverse as educational technology, environmental solutions, personalized publishing, software platforms, and insect control technology, the thirteen companies arrived with genuinely differentiated products and strong technical foundations. What the mentoring sessions delivered was clarity: a precise picture of which assets — a proprietary algorithm, a distinctive brand, a content library, a novel biological process — carried real commercial value and warranted protection.
For several companies, this translated into immediate, actionable outcomes. Founders left with specific recommendations on which trademarks to file first and in which classes, how to structure IP ownership clauses in contracts with co-founders and technical partners, and where confidentiality agreements should be introduced before their next round of investor or partner conversations. Others gained a sharper understanding of how their existing know-how could be packaged for licensing, or how international protection routes could support plans to expand beyond Brazil.
Just as valuable, mentors helped founders reframe how they thought about IP altogether. Many companies discovered that assets they had never considered protectable — proprietary methodologies, selected datasets, unique creative formats — could become defensible, monetizable parts of their business. That shift in perspective, participants noted, was as important as any specific filing recommendation.
A Roadmap Companies Can Act On
The thirteen companies did not leave RIW with every question answered, but they left with something more durable: a clear, prioritized roadmap for strengthening their IP position, direct access to the WIPO and INPI experts who could support next steps, and the confidence that comes from understanding exactly where they stand and where they are headed.
The workshop reinforced a message central to WIPO's broader engagement with Latin American startups this year: intellectual property is not a compliance matter reserved for companies that have already reached scale. It is a strategic asset that, when embedded early, can strengthen a company's negotiating position, attract investment, and open the door to partnerships well beyond Brazil's.
Part of a Broader Partnership with INPI
The One-Day IP Workshop at RIW is one component of a wider set of activities WIPO is implementing in 2026 in collaboration with INPI to deepen IP support for Brazilian innovators. These include the dedicated edition of the IP Management Clinic (IPMC) Program for biotech and green tech companies from Brazil. Together, these initiatives reflect a sustained, sector-responsive effort to embed intellectual property into the growth strategies of Brazilian startups.
For more information on the participation of WIPO at RIW see also:
WIPO Connects Latin American Startups to IP Tools at Rio Innovation Week