The WIPO Regional Patent Drafting Training for ARIPO Member States (including Observer States) and SADC countries opened on 20 October with a room full of eager participants, early-career researchers, university lecturers, technology transfer officers and innovators from across Africa. From the first session, the one-week training was marked by curiosity, challenging questions from participants, and genuine enthusiasm for mastering the craft of patent drafting while connecting its concepts into the realities of their ecosystem’s research and innovation structures.
From claim construction, invention disclosure techniques, group-based mock defenses, simulated patent disputes to comparative analyses of national and global practices, participants immersed themselves in every aspect of the drafting process. The trainers facilitated the week with hands-on exercises, peer-review sessions, and interactive case studies that anchored their learning into real-world scenarios.
The breakout groups format fostered collaboration between countries and allowed participants to appreciate the diversity of innovations emerging across the continent, from agritech solutions, renewable energy prototypes to digital platforms and other research breakthroughs waiting to be translated into protected and market-ready patents.