Innovation stories
Women Athletes Inspiring your Entrepreneurship & IP Journey: 29 September
The USPTO Texas Regional Office in collaboration with the Texas Chapter of Chiefs in Intellectual Property (ChIPs), which focuses on advancing women in technology, law, and policy, present a panel of women athletes who have innovated as entrepreneurs and created or helped create successful businesses. The virtual event will take place on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. CT.
IFPMA and Speak Up Africa announce winners of Africa Young Innovators for Health Award
Innovation Council member IFPMA announces the first-ever winners of the Africa Young Innovators for Health Award at the official virtual ceremony on Thursday, 16 September from 09:30 GMT online.
The three winners will be revealed live at the Award Ceremony, where health leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs gather online to celebrate African innovation. And to highlight the vital role innovation plays, especially amongst young people in Africa, in tackling some of the most pressing healthcare challenges facing healthcare workers on the continent.
Read the full story and register here.
WIPO Training: Mentoring and Matchmaking Program on IP for Women Entrepreneurs
Open for applications: WIPO women entrepreneurship program for members of indigenous peoples and local communities. The program supports indigenous entrepreneurs in strategically using intellectual property tools to grow their businesses.
Submit your application by September 6, 2021 here.
Knowledge creates action – Invent Together
Invent Together is a coalition of organizations, universities, companies, and other stakeholders dedicated to understanding the diversity gaps in invention and patenting, and to supporting public policy and private initiatives to close them. Closing patent gaps would have significant benefits for individual inventors and society as a whole. Research shows that inventors with patents consistently earn higher incomes on average than non-inventors, even controlling for occupation, migrant status, and other factors.
Learn more about Invent Together and find interesting research in this area here.
Policy approaches to close the intellectual property gender gap
Click here through Innovation Council’s presentation on “Policy approaches to close the intellectual property gender gap”. Innovation Council’s Jennifer Brant and Mark Schultz presented the findings on 29 July during the plenary session of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The IC intervention starts at 01:38:52.
Nominate inventors for the European Inventor Award 2022
The European Inventor Award honours inventors not only for the genius of their scientific or technological breakthroughs, but also for the impact their inventions have on our lives. You can help determine who will receive a highly coveted Award trophy by nominating an inventor. Simply complete the nomination form, submit it before the deadline is reached and your inventor could become a finalist in Europe’s foremost innovation prize.
Nominations for the 2022 edition of the European Inventor Award must be sent to the EPO by 1 October 2021.
Tackling the Gender and Racial Patenting Gap to Drive Innovation: Lessons from Women’s Experiences
This brief describes the challenges and facilitators to success that women inventors face at each stage of the process. It first discusses the systemic barriers to innovation and patenting faced by women, women’s lack of formal education on the patenting process, informal education on patenting and the importance of mentors, and gatekeepers to patenting. Then the brief details how barriers to the patenting process, and the supports women need to overcome them, differ by industry and sector. It concludes with policy and program recommendations that, if implemented, will help promote diversity in the innovation and patenting process. Watch the related panel discussion with women inventors, and Institute for Women’s Policy Research presents their research on the challenges women inventors face based on gender and race and how to overcome them. For more information, visit https://inventtogether.org/
Read the full story and watch the discussion.
Red de mujeres innovadoras y propiedad industrial – 19 July
The Instituto Mexicano de la Propriedad Industrial (IMPI) is organising a the live broadcast, via Facebook Live, of the launch of the digital community of the Network of Innovative Women and Industrial Property, which will be chaired by the Ministry of Economy, Tatiana Clouthier on Monday 19 July, at 9:00 am (CDMX time). This is an initiative of IMPI in collaboration with WIPO, to encourage inventors and entrepreneurs to protect their creations, where you will find information, advice and mentoring in industrial property for women inventors and entrepreneurs, as well as a space to showcase success stories and break stereotypes.
Q&A with Innovation Council members Wetility & Renewables in Africa
Innovation Council sat down with Vincent Maposa, the Founder and CEO of Wetility and Tony Tiyou, the Founder and CEO of Renewables in Africa, to talk about the beginnings of their companies and what made them successful.
Wetility is a rooftop solar PV technology company based in South Africa. It creates optimal capacity for stand-alone and sectional title homes and small commercial buildings. The company harnesses the power of the sun, with the aim of introducing the world to a hybrid solution that works seamlessly and in harmony with current power supply options.
Renewables in Africa is a clean energy engineering consultancy providing services in renewable energy and energy management to project developers and investors. RiA is primarily focused on projects in Africa, but it does advise clients about energy projects in other emerging markets as well. RiA is also a media platform with the vision to transform Africa and African lives by leveraging the power of renewable energy.
Wetility and Renewables in Africa work closely together.