The workshop "Intellectual Property and Agricultural Research and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Towards a Platform for Exchange and Learning" began on 2 November, at CIAT headquarters. 

Seventy participants from the public and private sectors, universities, and governmental entities of different Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries attended the 3-day workshop that aimed to encourage the region's agricultural research and development organizations to improve their coordination and knowledge of intellectual property issues and increase the dissemination of positive experiences, based on a common approach and shared models.  

The opening speech was given by Luis Fernando Samper, Communications and Marketing Manager of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation who addressed intellectual property in agricultural research and development and its importance.  

The agenda was organized in 4 modules and addressed more than 10 case studies:

• Module 1: Public-private alliances and technology transfer.
• Module 2: Open access.
• Module 3: The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and the use of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement.
• Module 4: Systems for the protection of plant varieties.

The workshop is part of the Regional Training Platform, an initiative to create thematic training platforms together with key partners of LAC. The event was co-organized by the University of Costa Rica, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), the Specialized Network Corporation of Center for the Technological Research and Development of the Colombian Agricultural Sector (CENIRED), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Public Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture (PIPRA), and the Public Interest Intellectual Property Advisors, Inc. (PIIPA).