INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: EVENTS

WIPO-WTO colloquiums for intellectual property teachers

Since 2004, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the WTO have jointly organized annual two-week colloquiums for teachers of intellectual property (IP) from developing countries and economies in transition. The aim is to help the teachers become more aware of the Geneva institutions, negotiations and other activities dealing with IP law and policy, and to strengthen their countries’ independent research, policy analysis and teaching in IP law. Building on the success of the annual colloquium, WIPO and the WTO have held since 2017 an annual regionally focused colloquium, which aims to take a closer look at specific regional trends and strengthen academic networks.

Latest news

2022: Invitation to apply to participate in the 2022 WIPO-WTO colloquium, with online application form. Interested candidates must apply by 28 August 2022.

Introductory message from the directors of the WTO IP Division and WIPO Academy


WTO IP Division Director Antony Taubman

WIPO Academy Executive Director Mr. Sherif Saadallah

IP has entered a period of unprecedented globalization, international institution-building, and a deepened understanding of the centrality of a balanced and effective IP system in development.  The period has also precipitated a wide-ranging inquiry about how to adapt and apply IP to benefit countries that are highly diverse in their economic, social and technological make-up, in their developmental priorities, and in their legal and commercial systems.

The Colloquium has exemplified and promoted current trends in technical assistance and capacity building. It builds upon and extends an existing partnership between WIPO and the WTO and it responds to the need for stronger, broader dialogue and a greater involvement of voices from all perspectives in contemporary debates. The Colloquium recognizes the central role of indigenous capacity building and the key contribution of IP teachers and researchers as the mainstay of sustainable development of the necessary IP expertise in developing countries. It transcends traditional boundaries between regions and between 'north' and 'south' to allow fruitful discourse on the future of IP systems. Most importantly, it recognizes the importance of extending beyond an educational function to one of bringing together a diverse group, with the aim of reviving and refreshing dialogues on IP and its cognate fields.

Although WIPO and the WTO both host numerous meetings every year, in Geneva and in many locations elsewhere, in the form of committees, seminars, workshops, roundtables, symposia, and so on, the idea of a 'colloquium' has a special ring to it. For the WIPO-WTO Colloquium, it connotes a spirit of academic enquiry, a search for new ideas and new ways of analysing IP and related fields, through open debate, rigorous research, and new ways of communicating the complexities of IP law, practice and policy.

The colloquiums

Colloquium publications

Alumni

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  • WIPO Academy
    World Intellectual Property Organization 
    34, chemin des Colombettes
    CH-1211 Geneva 20
    Switzerland

    Tel. 41 22 338 8585
    Fax: 41 22 740 1417
    E-mail: [email protected]