World's leading experts gather in Turku – patents and other intellectual property rights play a central role in global inequality
The recent WHO Pandemic Agreement makes the conference particularly timely. The keynote speaker will be Edward Kwakwa, Assistant Director General of WIPO.
Intellectual property rights protect the results of creative work, such as inventions, literary works, and designs. The TACIP conference organised by the Faculty of Law of the University of Turku takes place in Turku this week and brings together some of the leading experts in the field from around the world.
The two-day conference will address issues related to intellectual property rights and technical cooperation in Africa. The timeliness of the conference is underlined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, which was signed in May and also concerns the pharmaceutical industry and its patents.
“The conference will be the first of its kind globally and will focus specifically on Africa. Intellectual property rights are a key currency in today's global political economy. Their importance becomes clear when we talk about access to medicines and vaccines,” notes Academy Research Fellow Daniel Acquah, who is organising the conference.
The keynote speaker will be Edward Kwakwa, Assistant Director General at the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He will give a lecture on the organisation's global challenges and partnerships in Africa. In addition, he will also address the recently established Intellectual Property for Medical Manufacturing Centre of Excellence.
Other speakers include the distinguished Professor of Law Ruth Okediji from Harvard Law School and Director General Denis L. Bohoussou of the African Intellectual Property Organization (AOPI).
The conference is part of the TACIP research project (Technical Assistance as an Enabler of the Constitutionalizing of Intellectual Property Norms in Africa, 2022–2027) funded by the Research Council of Finland.
Intellectual property rights as part of global economic inequality
The conference lectures will be divided into three themes: law, policy and path.
The researchers will consider the role of intellectual property rights in globalisation, and in Africa's future in particular. In addition, the discussions will focus on the role of intellectual property rights in global economic inequality.
The conference aims to take a holistic approach to intellectual property technical assistance in Africa. Should regulation place greater emphasis on fields where African countries could benefit from enhanced and tailored protection?
International Conference on Intellectual Property and Technical Cooperation in Africa: Law, Policy and Path) will be held at the Faculty of Law of the University of Turku on 20–21 August 2025. Program and more information of the conference website.
