World IP Day 2023 Event Held by WIPO Japan Office
April 27, 2023
Every year, events are held all over the world as part of World Intellectual Property Day (April 26th), with a different theme each year. This year’s theme was “Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity”. On April 25th, the WIPO Japan Office held Japan’s first live World IP Day event in three years, drawing over 200 attendees.
At a 2015 summit, the UN adopted a “2030 Agenda” focusing on sustainable development goals (SDGs), and with another UN summit on SDGs to be held this coming September, the level of international interest in SDGs is anticipated to reach a new high. In recent years, awareness of SDGs has increased in Japan as well, and this year, Japan’s SDGs Promotion Headquarters put together an “SDGs Action Plan 2023” (in Japanese here) that prioritizes the creation of a diverse, inclusive society.
Toward that end, in order to discuss ways of looking at diversity and inclusiveness worldwide and the roles that diversity and inclusiveness play in innovation and intellectual property, this year’s event featured a varied lineup of keynote speakers and panelists, including a key agency head, scholars, a leader from a social media company, a commentator from a major media outlet, a Nikkei Woman of the Year, a recipient of an award from the Society of Japanese Women Scientists, and legal experts. The event was enthusiastically received, with questions flying during the panel Q&A.
The program of the event and bios of the speakers can be found here (in Japanese).