Mr. Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Met with Mr. Mikheil Chkhenkeli, Minister of Education and Science of Georgia

Mr. Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is paying an official visit to Georgia. Within the meeting, Director General of WIPO had a meeting with Mr. Mikheil Chkhenkeli, Minister of Education and Science of Georgia. The parties discussed the issues of protection of intellectual property in the field of education and opportunities for deepening cooperation in this direction.  

At the meeting the significant role of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in the development of the IP system of Georgia was highlighted. With the WIPO support and assistance, global programs were implemented in Georgia aimed at the development of education and innovation activity. During the conversation, the active participation of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia in these processes was noted, which cooperates closely with the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia – “Sakpatenti” and implements joint projects, including in the direction of innovation promotion. Mr. Mikheil Chkhenkeli noted that in the recent years, to ensure the effective protection of intellectual property, a number of significant projects were implemented – in active cooperation of Sakpatenti and WIPO.

With the assistance of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the IP Training Center was established at Sakpatenti, which organizes training, seminars and workshops of various kinds. With the engagement of WIPO, training of Georgian trainers was planned and implemented, which serves enhancing the pool of trainers of Sakpatenti Training Center. In addition, the free distance learning course DL101GE was translated into the Georgian language, which is delivered by WIPO trained Sakpatenti tutors. Up to 1250 interested persons passed the course successfully. WIPO also supported implementation of the Professional Development Program (PDP) on Geographical Indications in Georgia, which enabled governmental officials from various countries to deepen knowledge and raise qualification.

The meeting was also attended by Ms. Manana Pruidze, Acting Chairperson of Sakpatenti, Mr. Habip Asan, Director, Division for Transition and Developed Countries, WIPO, and H.E. Mr. Alexander Maisuradze, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, which unites 193 member states. Georgia has been a member of WIPO since 1991.