WIPO Global Awards

WIPO Global Awards celebrates exceptional enterprises and individuals making smart use of intellectual property for commercialization while also bringing a positive contribution to society through their innovation and creativity.

What’s happened in 2023?

January to March: The competition was open to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in WIPO's 193 Member States and from all industries. There were 548 submissions from 58 countries, representing various sectors including creative industries, food, environment, health, and more.

May: The WIPO Secretariat shortlisted the 25 finalists, coming from 16 countries across all corners for the world, in the running to become one of seven winners.

July: A distinguished panel of six judges, comprising experts in intellectual property (IP), innovation, and business from diverse backgrounds, meticulously handpicked the seven winners.

What’s next?

Each winner will receive a tailored mentoring program in crucial areas such as accessing financial resources, forging business alliances, and fortifying their intellectual property strategies.

Stay informed! Sign up for WIPO Global Awards notifications, including the 2024 competition.

Meet the 2023 WIPO Global Awards Winners

Group photo at the WIPO Global Awards Ceremony that took place on July 11, 2023

Watch the ceremony | Press release | Photos on Flickr

WIPO Global Awards Roundtable

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Roundtable on the challenges and opportunities SMEs face in using the IP system, chaired by the WIPO Director General, Mr. Daren Tang, and members of the jury panel.

Watch the roundtable

Get inspired by the WIPO Global Awards jurors

WIPO Global Awards juror Dr. Amin Badr-El-Din

The awards are a great way to be recognized. It is a mechanism to grow, particularly those from less developed intellectual property jurisdictions.
Awards juror Dr. Amin Badr-El-Din, a leading economic and energy strategists presently involved in private equity, venture capital, and angel-investing activities globally.

WIPO Global Awards juror Julius Akinyemi

The Global Awards are a way to amplify the importance of intellectual property as an asset. The only concern I have for those of you in Africa or any other developing world, for that matter, is not to be afraid to thrive.
Awards juror Julius Akinyemi, Entrepreneur In Residence at the MIT Media Lab working on the Next Generation Capital Market Infrastructure for rural commodities producers.

WIPO Global Awards juror Karoli Hindricks

The world is smaller than you think, bring your ideas to our competition and see how you can go global.
Awards juror Karoli Hindriks, entrepreneur and inventor at the age of sixteen, and now founder of a startup working on removing the friction of international relocation by making immigration processes seamless through technology.

WIPO Global Awards community of winners

Hydraloop – Netherlands

Decentralized water recycling systems

WIPO Global Award Winner, Lucence, a manufacturer of a precision oncology technology

Lucence – Singapore

Invention of ultrasensitive liquid biopsy tests for cancer detection

WIPO Global Award Winner, Raycan, manufacturer of digital PET medical imaging system

Raycan – China

Development and production of digital PET medical imaging

WIPO Global Award Winner, Shylon, manufacturer of LED outdoor landscape lighting

Shylon – China

Design, production and marketing of LED outdoor landscape lighting

WIPO Global Award Winner, Splink, manufacturer of diagnostic technology for early dementia

Splink – Japan

Development of artificial intelligence software for diagnosis of early dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases

Previous edition of the WIPO Global Awards

WIPO Global Awards winners at the inaugural 2022 ceremony in the presence of Director General Daren Tang

The inaugural 2022 Global Awards recognized the central role of innovative and creative activities of SMEs by awarding those that have used IP rights to develop solutions that have made a positive contribution to society, economically, socially, or culturally.

Meet the 2022 finalists | Press release | Winners | Photos on Flickr | Watch the event

Videos are available in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish.

About the WIPO Global Awards

The Global Awards program launched in 2022 is rooted in WIPO’s mission to ensure a world where innovation and creativity from anywhere is supported by intellectual property for the good of everyone.

The Global Awards competition aims to encourage the commercialization of IP assets by rewarding enterprises that make a smart use of intellectual property and to address the need to build a more inclusive global innovation ecosystem, which better harnesses the huge innovative and creative energies of entrepreneurs, youth and women.

The awards recognize and support inventors, creators and entrepreneurs using intellectual property (IP) rights to achieve their goals, generate income, create jobs, tackle local and global challenges, and support community and national development.