World Intellectual Property Day is held every year on 26 April in order to “raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks, and designs impact on daily life”.
World Intellectual Property Day 2021
The day was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in the year 2000 and the other reason for creating the day was “to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies across the globe”.
The date 26 April was chosen as the date for World Intellectual Property Day for the reason that it happens together with the date on which the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization entered into force in the year 1970.
History of World Intellectual Property Day
In September 1998, the following statement was made at the Assembly of the Member States of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Director General of the National Algerian Institute for Industrial Property (INAPI) offered on 7 April 1999 the institutionalisation of an global day for intellectual assets, with the objective of setting up “a framework for broader mobilization and awareness, [opening up] access to the promotional aspect of innovation and [recognizing] the achievements of promoters of intellectual property throughout the world.”
On 9 August 1999, the Chinese allocation to the WIPO suggested the acceptance of the “World Intellectual Property Day”
It stated, “in order to further promote the awareness of intellectual property protection, expand the influence of intellectual property protection across the world, urge countries to publicize and popularize intellectual property protection laws and regulations, enhance the public legal awareness of intellectual property rights, encourage invention-innovation activities in various countries and strengthen international exchange in the intellectual property field”.
Finally, in the year 1999, the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on October accepted the idea of announcing a specific day as a World Intellectual Property Day.
Theme of World Intellectual Property Day 2021
Every single year, a message or theme is connected with the event and this year in 2021, the theme of World Intellectual Property Day is Reach for Gold: IP and Sports.
Following is the list of other themes in the previous years:
2001 – Creating the Future Today
2002 – Encouraging Creativity
2003 – Make Intellectual Property Your Business
2004 – Encouraging Creativity
2005 – Think, Imagine, Create
2006 – It Starts With An Idea
2007 – Encouraging Creativity
2008 – Celebrating innovation and promoting respect for intellectual property
2009 – Green Innovation
2010 – Innovation – Linking the World
2011 – Designing the Future
2012 – Visionary Innovators
2013 – Creativity – The Next Generation
2014 – Movies – a Global Passion
2015 – Get Up, Stand Up. For Music
2016 – Digital Creativity: Culture Reimagined
2017 – Innovation – Improving Lives
2018 – Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity
2019 – Reach for Gold: IP and Sports
2020 – Innovate for a Green Future
2021 – IP and SMEs: Taking your ideas to market
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