AVINYA is a multidisciplinary and global seminar, coordinated by the Central University of Bihar (India) in the context of World Intellectual Property Day. Its aim is to discuss, analyze, and explore various aspects of intellectual property, addressing the discipline’s challenges from multiple perspectives. This year, the central theme of the event was “Intellectual Property and History: Tracing the Evolution of Ideas and Innovation.”
Participating in the first edition of AVINYA in 2024, Pamela Lisboa Sánchez, an academic from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology at the University of Santiago, Chile, was responsible for the keynote presentation.
Although invited to AVINYA 2.0 this year in what she described as a “more receptive role” – primarily as a “listener... to learn from them and their experiences... to listen to them and draw on their own words to highlight issues,” which she found “super interesting” – the professor also delivered a talk. In this presentation, she drew parallels between the evolution of intellectual property in Chile and India, aiming for a “simple, entertaining way that was designed for UCSB students to open their minds to how it emerged and, from that basis, to look at current and future challenges.”
Invited once more by Professor Ashok Kumar of the Central University of Bihar – whom she had previously met at a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) course – she participated in the 2025 edition of the event. This year, the event comprised keynote speeches from leading experts in intellectual property law and sustainable development, with the goal of fostering a collaborative environment for academics, professionals, policymakers, and stakeholders.
Artificial intelligence, with its profound implications for intellectual property, was a significant part of the debate at this edition of AVINYA. Pamela Lisboa commented that “artificial intelligence is indeed the other derivative of our times, alongside sustainability, the other prevailing paradigm of development.” She further noted a critical issue regarding inventors and creators: “we are often taking as a basis mixture of authorship by different people that become diluted. There is no traceability of this authorship or invention. So, the discussion is currently a hot topic.”
Also, as in 2024, the FQYB academic said she considered it very important to incorporate or reinforce intellectual property concepts in all degree programs, along with those related to innovation. When asked about this this time, she added that “Usach has been a pioneer in adding complete intellectual property courses at the undergraduate level. There are several law and innovation diploma and doctoral programs that have incorporated IP workshops, and many master’s programs already have complete courses, but at the undergraduate and doctoral levels in industrial engineering programs at Chilean universities, there are still no complete courses. Last year, the Department of Management Technologies of the Faculty of Technology invited me to teach a complete course for industrial designers, based on preliminary research I conducted at the beginning of the semester. So, Usach is either the first or one of the first to incorporate a course into an undergraduate program. Likewise, it is completely new that the Doctorate in Technological Innovation in Engineering (DITI) at our university’s Faculty of Engineering has incorporated a semester-long course—not a workshop—on intellectual property, which I coordinate, and which has had some outstanding guests from the institutional world.
Finally, on the same subject, she emphasized that “this is something that should be highlighted about Usach, because it is taking an important step so that the professionals of the future can recognize, through this knowledge, that there are aspects of what they are doing that have a value beyond the product, service, or process.”
Pamela Lisboa Sánchez’s second consecutive participation in AVINYA is a testament to her experience and academic commitment, and it further reinforces the caliber of education at our university. The invitation of Usach faculty to prominent international events like this is a clear indicator of the global recognition our academics have earned. These invitations are a source of immense pride and are crucial for the internationalization initiatives we champion within the Department of International Relations, as they effectively project the knowledge and excellence of our university community worldwide.