Tokyo, 6 April 2025. The Seventh IP & Innovation Researchers of Asia (IPIRA) Conference convened from April 4 to 6, 2025, at Waseda University’s Faculty of Law in Tokyo, Japan. This annual event, organised by the IPIRA Network, brought together over 300 participants—including academics, policymakers, and legal professionals—from across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas to engage in discussions on intellectual property (IP) and innovation. Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia (AIKOL) is one of the founding members of IPIRA, and hosted the first IPIRA congress at its campus in Kuala Lumpur in 2019.
The conference featured prominent figures as keynote speakers such as Hasan Kleib, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); Johanna Hill, Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO); Takuya Yasui from the Japan Patent Office; and Takeshi Iizuka of the Japan Patent Attorneys Association. Their addresses emphasised Asia’s growing influence in global innovation and the necessity for adaptable IP systems in the face of digital transformation and sustainable development challenges.
The conference hosted 42 parallel sessions across seven thematic tracks. Topics included the impact of artificial intelligence on IP frameworks, IP commercialisation, protection of patents and trade secrets, international trade agreements, and recent WIPO treaties concerning genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
The event was a collaborative effort between the IPIRA Network and Waseda University, with support from institutions such as the International Islamic University Malaysia, Nanyang Technological University, Foreign Trade University, Universitas Indonesia, Texas A&M University School of Law, and the University of Geneva. It also received backing from international organizations like WIPO and the WTO.
The Eighth IPIRA Conference is scheduled to take place in the first week of February 2026 at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Further details and the call for applications are expected to be announced in August 2025.
For more information, visit the IPIRA Network’s official website.