Every year on April 26th, World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated with a number of events and activities around the world. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) started the event in 2000 to “raise awareness about how patents, copyright, trademarks, and designs affect everyday life” and “celebrate innovation and the contribution of creators and innovators to the development of societies around the world.” Its aim is to raise public consciousness and comprehension of intellectual property (IP). World IP Day is another name for World Intellectual Property Day. The date of April 26 was selected as World Intellectual Property Day because it corresponds with the date on which the World Intellectual Property Organization Convention came into force in 1970. A number of activists and academics have criticized the event as one-sided propaganda in support of conventional copyright, dismissing alternatives such as copyleft and the open culture movement. Each year, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) collaborates with a variety of government agencies, non-governmental organizations, community groups, and individuals to organize a variety of events and activities to celebrated World Intellectual Property Day. Activities and events may include (but are not exclusive to):
- Stage concerts or other public performances based on the World IP Day theme, with performers sharing messages that promote creator love and innovation.
- Young people’s essay contests on topics such as intellectual property, creativity, fraud, counterfeiting, and other related topics.
- Seminars or free lectures at universities to raise student, faculty, and researcher knowledge of intellectual property and its benefits.
- Exhibits in museums, art galleries, schools, and other educational facilities, along with presentations that illustrate the relationship between exhibits, creativity, and intellectual property.
To promote World IP Day, some local intellectual property and copyright offices may hold an open house on or around April 26. Some educational institutions may use World IP Day to honor the contributions of a prominent inventor, artist, designer, or entrepreneur, and to engage students in discussions about the importance of intellectual property. World Intellectual Property Day, also known as World IP Day, is a worldwide celebration of intellectual property. It is not a federally recognized public holiday.
Following a statement made at the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Assembly of Member States in September 1998, the Director General of the National Algerian Institute for Industrial Property (INAPI) suggested the establishment of an international day for intellectual property on April 7, 1999, with the aim 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.”
WIPO is a United Nations specialized organization. It is committed to establishing a fair and open international intellectual property (IP) framework that rewards creativity, encourages innovation, and promotes economic growth while protecting the public interest. The Chinese delegation to the WIPO proposed the adoption of “World Intellectual Property Day” on August 9, 1999
“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.”
In 2000, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) agreed to create an annual World Intellectual Property Day to discuss the perceived disconnect between IP as a business/legal term and its importance to people’s lives. In 1970, the date chosen for the first entry into force of the convention creating WIPO was April 26. World Intellectual Property Day is organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The World IP Day programs, gatherings, and promotions aim to raise public awareness about what IP actually means and show how the IP system supports not only music, arts, and culture, but all goods and technical advances that help shape the world. Every year, the WIPO selects a theme on which the various activities to be carried out during the day will be centered.
