Symposium: IP Education for Human Resources in Developing Countries

The potential of a nation's creative and innovative resources in promoting economic, social and cultural development is increasingly recognized in today's world. Many countries, however, lack qualified personnel with the knowledge and skills of the IP system required to transform these resources into valuable economic assets. This can often prove a barrier to development. Representatives from 42 countries participated in an international event to address this topic at the WIPO International Symposium on Intellectual Property Education and Research held in Geneva on June 30 and July 1.

At the WIPO symposium, major players in the area of research and education assessed the current situation, identified the challenges ahead, explored the possibilities for enhancing international cooperation and suggested appropriate actions for further development of IP education and research. Participants agreed that much needs to be done to foster partnerships and international cooperation among academic institutions in order to promote the full integration of IP into teaching curricula. This is of particular importance given the cross-cutting nature of IP and the need for an interdisciplinary approach to IP education and IP research.

The students of today are the decision-makers of tomorrow. To ensure that these future leaders are well equipped for the challenges ahead, educators need appropriate and effective mechanisms to boost understanding of IP and ensure that its application mirrors the specific IP needs of individual countries. Emerging situations in different countries require nationally focused and tailor-made solutions. IP research has a major role to play in ensuring the integration of effective IP strategies into the overall national policy framework.

Solutions and Opportunities

The symposium explored ways to improve international cooperation to tackle some of the emerging challenges. It identified coherent approaches and opportunities, such as how a multidisciplinary approach could be reflected in the IP curriculum of universities and how universities could overcome the scarcity of IP lecturers through international cooperation and using more "virtual" professors to service distance learning courses via the Internet. Participants agreed that ongoing efforts should be enhanced to strengthen and expand partnerships and strategic cooperation among academic institutions. The cooperation between academic...