In the period 9-10 May 2017, the Sub-Regional Seminar “Teaching Intellectual Property to the Youth” was held at the Romanian-American University in Bucharest.
The seminar was organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in collaboration with the Romanian Office for Copyright (ORDA), the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM), the Ministry of National Education (MNE) and the Romanian-American University. The event benefited from the direct support of the Intellectual Property Right Scientific Association (ASDPI), Nicolae Titulescu University of Bucharest, Union of Film and Audiovisual Producers – Employers of Cinematography and Television Companies and the Romanian Journal of Intellectual Property.
Romania has been selected by WIPO to host this event thanks to its achievements and leadership position in the field of intellectual property teaching, being the only state in the European Union that currently has such a high school curriculum.
The event was attended by representatives of the governmental institutions and civil society working in the field, of the academic environment and high school teachers in Romania, as well as international experts, representatives of WIPO, representatives of the Intellectual Property Offices of Lithuania, Bulgaria, Albania and the Republic of Moldova.
As the second seminar devoted to the teaching of intellectual property, organized in Romania, the event aimed to intensify the efforts of all interested parties for the implementation in the high schools of the School Program for the Optional Course Education on Intellectual Property Rights, the training of teachers who will achieve the piloting of the program at national level, as well as exchanging experience and best practices in the development of related educational materials. At the same time, the agenda of the seminar included the topic of teaching the field of intellectual property in universities.
Among the topics discussed on the first day of the seminar, we should mention the international experience in the field of school curriculum approval for the staff training in the field of IP after the example of the EU, Canada and the USA, as well as Romania’s experience in this field. The representative of the Romanian Ministry of National Education presented the results of the two years of implementation of the Curriculum at the school decision for high school. About the curricular and extracurricular activities in the field of IP teaching in high schools spoke 3 teachers from Bucharest, Prahova and Ilfov counties, mentioning the interest of pupils in this field and increasing the number of high schools interested in this project. WIPO representatives spoke about IP as a tool for encouraging innovation and creativity among young people, WIPO assistance to Member States in disseminating information on IP among young people, WIPO tools available, etc.
On the second day of the seminar there was an exchange of experience on the teaching of intellectual property to the young people with the participation of representatives of the IP offices of Bulgaria, Lithuania, Albania and the Republic of Moldova.
The experience of the Republic of Moldova regarding the staff training in the field of IP was presented by the representatives of the State Agency on Intellectual Property, present at the event. Thus, Iurie Badir, Head of the Training Division and Maria Rojnevschi, Head of the Promotion and External Relations Department, talked about the activities carried out by AGEPI in the area of raising awareness of the young generation regarding the role of intellectual property for the economic, social and cultural development of the country and the need to respect intellectual property rights, activities to support creativity and innovation among the younger generation and measures taken by AGEPI to include the discipline Introduction to Intellectual Property in school programs and Government support in this area.
The AGEPI representatives informed the participants in the seminar about the approval by the National Council for Curriculum and subsequently by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Moldova, by order no. 265 of April 28 this year, of the Curriculum for the Optional Course Introduction to Intellectual Property, grades X-XII, elaborated and presented by AGEPI and about the measures to be taken in the next period regarding the training of the professors who will ensure the teaching of this optional course and also of the educational materials in the field.
