The 2025 Women and IP Symposium will provide a unique platform for intellectual property offices (IPOs) and other innovation-focused government representatives to collaborate on improving women’s participation in innovation and IP.
The 2025 Women and IP Symposium will take place from April 30 to May 2, 2025, at WIPO headquarters and online. This marks the third edition of the symposium, building on the success of the 2023 and 2024 events hosted by the USPTO.
This third edition of the symposium reflects WIPO's strategic commitment to working with IP offices and governments to foster and advance women’s participation in IP and innovation, as outlined in the IP and Gender Action Plan (IPGAP).
Held over three days, the symposium will feature a series of in-depth discussions on key themes such as:
- advancing women’s leadership and careers within IP offices;
- emerging data methodologies and policymaking to identify and address challenges women face in innovation and IP;
- the impact of mentoring programs;
- innovative practices to support young entrepreneurs;
- strategies for evaluating and sustaining initiatives that benefit women innovators.
Additionally, the symposium will explore the importance of public-private partnerships and future-thinking actions to create a more supportive IP ecosystem for women around the world.
- Program [PDF]
Registration
All representatives from IPOs and governmental agencies who have received an invitation are requested to complete their online registration for both online and in-person participation. Registration is mandatory for participation, regardless of the chosen attendance format.
The symposium will take place at WIPO headquarters in Geneva, and will feature a hybrid format.
Program
Day one – Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Registration (8.30 – 8.55)
Welcome remarks (9.00 – 9.30)
Director General, WIPO
(Recording)
Deputy Director General, Patents and Technology Sector
Session 1: Icebreaker and Collaboration Exercise (09.30 – 10.15)
Chair:
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)
Session 2: Integrating Women into the Work of IP Offices: women in the workplace (10.15 – 11.30)
Chair:
WIPO
Japan Patent Office (JPO)
Instituto Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia y de la Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual, (INDECOPI), Peru
IP Australia
Coffee Break (11.30 – 12.00)
Session 2 (Part 2): Integrating Women into the Work of IP Offices: approaches for mainstreaming in functions, policies and programs (12.00 – 13.00)
Chair:
WIPO
CIPO
Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial de Chile (INAPI)
Networking Lunch break (13.00 – 14.00)
Session 3: The Role of Mentoring Programs in Empowering Women in IP (14.00 – 15.00)
Chair:
Companies and Intellectual Property Commission South Africa (CIPC)
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Director, Enterprise Solutions Division, WIPO
Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial de Chile (INAPI)
Coffee break (15.00 – 15.30)
Keynote lecture: Inclusive Innovation and Growth: Transforming STEM Women into Inventors (15.30 – 16.15)
Associate Professor at Copenhagen Business School and Research Scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Session 4: Utilizing Data to Inform Policymaking (16.15 – 18.00)
Chair:
WIPO
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)
National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) Brazil
INAPI
UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO)
Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial de Chile (INAPI)
CIPO
Reception (18.00 – 19.00)
Day two – Thursday, May 1, 2025
Session 5: Foresight Workshop: IP Offices enabling the future of women and IP (9.00 – 11.00)
Chair:
WIPO
Coffee break (11.00 – 11.30)
Session 6: Designing and Managing Projects Supporting Women Entrepreneurs: promoting sustainability (11.30 – 13.00)
Chair:
WIPO
Egyptian Intellectual property Authority (EGIPA)
WIPO
Aymara from the Plurinational State of Bolivia
WIPO
Networking lunch break (13.00 – 14.30)
Session 7: Techniques for Monitoring and Evaluating Results of Initiatives and Projects for Women (14.30 – 16.00)
Chair:
UN Women Geneva Office
evaluation&research FOR DEVELOPMENT
International Trade Centre She Trades Initiative
Coffee break (16.00 – 16.30)
Session 8: Empowering Young Women Entrepreneurs in IP (16.30 – 18.00)
Chair:
WIPO
Down to Xjabelle
Petiole
Uganda Registration Services Bureau
WIPO Knowledge Center
Day three – Friday, May 2, 2025
Session 9: Collaboration and Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) Optimization (09.00 – 10.00)
Chair:
Deloitte
IP Australia
SPARK
Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO)
Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL)
Panel: IP and Innovation offices leaders (10.00 – 11.00)
Chair:
WIPO
CIPO
Austria Patent Office
Uganda Registration Services Bureau
Scientific Research Council (SRC), Jamaica
Group photo and coffee break (11.00 – 11.30)
Session 10: Workshop: Taking Action on the International Women's Day Joint Message (11.30 – 12.30)
Chair:
WIPO
Group reflections on the Symposium's outcomes and future directions (12.30 – 13.00)
Chairs:
WIPO
WIPO