WIPO Director General Daren Tang signed an agreement with Mr. Soso Girogadze, Chairperson of the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia (SAKPATENTI) and Prof. Giorgi Khubua, Rector of Kutaisi International University (KIU) on February 27, 2025 at WIPO Headquarters in Geneva.
The agreement marks an important milestone in the cooperation with Georgia to establish a new graduate program in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Entrepreneurship to be offered in English.
WIPO Director General Daren Tang (center); Soso Giorgadze (left), Chairperson, National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia (SAKPATENTI), and Giorgi Khubua (right), Rector, Kutaisi International University (KIU), at the signing ceremony for a new Joint Master’s Program in IP, Innovations and Entrepreneurship on February 27, 2025 (Image: WIPO/Berrod)
This signing was the culmination of the Director General’s visit to Georgia in October 2022 where he met with the President, Prime Minister and other senior officials and discussed KIU’s plans to establishing itself as one of the leading entrepreneurial universities in the region.
“The signing of this agreement between WIPO, the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia and Kutaisi International University to establish a new Joint Master’s Program in Intellectual Property, Innovation and Entrepreneurship demonstrates WIPO’s commitment to developing high-quality graduate IP programs of an interdisciplinary nature and with a truly global outlook. It is our hope that this new program will contribute to Georgia’s ambition to become a regional hub for innovation and technology by equipping the next generation of IP professionals with the requisite knowledge and skills to use IP as a powerful tool to support economic growth and development” – WIPO Director General Daren Tang
The new Master’s Program will be the first of its kind in Georgia and has been designed to integrate legal frameworks and business strategies with a focus on their practical application in the marketplace. The program will prepare future IP and innovation professionals with the tools to bring new ideas to market and drive innovation across SMEs and large corporations.
Selected participants will benefit from a year-long opportunity to learn about practical IP topics such as:
- Innovation and IP management;
- Financial management: Business valuation;
- IP commercialization and technology transfer; and
- IP managerial and entrepreneurial skills.
Registration for the Joint Master’s Program in IP, Innovation and Entrepreneurship will open at the end of 2025 on the WIPO eLearning Center.