Texas A&M School of Law and Professor Irene Calboli co-hosted the annual IP & Innovation Researchers of Asia Conference (IPIRA) in March. The Fifth IPIRA Conference was held in Singapore as a collaboration between the IPIRA Network, Texas A&M Law, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Academy, the World Trade Organization (WTO), Nanyang Technological University, the Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia, the Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia, and the Faculty of Law, University of Geneva.
This year's conference featured a hybrid format. The three-day conference featured over 300 scholars across the world.
The IPIRA Conference was co-founded by Professor Calboli in 2019 and offers a forum for IP academics to discuss their research with peers across the world and policy makers. As in the past, the Fifth IPIRA Conference was supported by a group of distinguished academic institutions in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. See the full conference program and the abstract list.
The Conference was opened by two keynote presentations. The first was delivered by Daren Tang, Director General, World Intellectual Property Office, and focused on the topic “The Role of WIPO in Building IP Ecosystems That Promote Innovation and Creativity Everywhere.” The second keynote presentation was delivered by Annabel Gonzalez, Deputy Director General, World Trade Organization, and was titled “Strengthening the Links between Public Health, Trade and IP: Applying the Lessons from the Pandemic.”
Photo by: Irene Calboli
Following the keynote presentations, the Conference hosted several parallel sessions where presenters focused on a variety of topics, including IP and health care, personality rights, copyright, artificial intelligence, patents, biotechnology, geographical indications, copyright, plant varieties, and intellectual property management. The Conference also featured two plenary sessions. The first plenary session focused on “Intellectual Property as Engine for Innovation: How to Implement a Balanced Approach?” and the second on “The Role of Intellectual Property for a Green and Sustainable Future.”
Photo by: Nanyang Technological University
Alumni from Texas A&M Law helped facilitate the online sessions, including Megan Pharis, Katie Kruisselbrink, and Madison Kuczynski. Distinguished University Professor Glynn Lunney served as the chair of one of the sessions.
The IPIRA Network is currently planning the Sixth IPIRA Conference for 2024 and information for the venue and the dates will be announced in September 2023.
Photo Credit Nanyang Technological University
See additional coverage of the Firth IPIRA Conference