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World Intellectual Property Day Focuses on Encouraging Creativity

Geneva, April 24, 2002
Press Releases PR/2002/310

"Encouraging Creativity" is the theme of this year's World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, 2002 to highlight the creative potential that is in us all. In 2000, member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) designated April 26, the date on which the Convention establishing WIPO entered into force in 1970, to celebrate the contribution made by innovators and artists to the development and growth of societies across the globe and to highlight the importance and practical use of intellectual property in our daily lives.

To mark the occasion, the Director General of WIPO, Dr. Kamil Idris, released the following message:

"Encouraging Creativity," the theme of this year's World Intellectual Property Day, springs from the World Intellectual Property Organization's conviction that human inventiveness, harnessed by the intellectual property system, is key to generating wealth, raising living standards and enriching our global cultural heritage. The ability to generate original and useful ideas and imagine a better future has fuelled human progress since the beginning of time, generating a stream of life-enhancing breakthroughs in areas such as environmental protection, food security and healthcare, and a richer choice of music, films, and books.

WIPO is committed to the development of a universal culture of creativity in which the intellectual property system is widely used to strengthen economic performance and enhance wealth creation for the betterment of all. The components of the intellectual property system such as patents, trademarks, and copyright are powerful tools to capture the value of creativity and knowledge to promote economic and cultural development.

It is our mission at WIPO to encourage use of this system to realize the creative potential that lies in us all. This will help make this world a better place for current and future generations."

To mark the event, WIPO is hosting an exhibition on cartoons and creativity from April 18 to May 30. Comics and cartoons are universal, found in all cultures and languages and are an example of human creativity at its most innovative. Thanks to copyright, artists and authors of comic strips are able to make a living from their work and gain recognition for their art (please see PR/307/2002 for further information). The exhibition will feature original works by local artists belonging to the Cartoonists Association of Romandie (ADR - Association des Dessinateurs Romands). Artists from the Walt Disney Company (Europe) will be at the headquarters of WIPO on April 26 to demonstrate techniques in three-dimensional cartoon sculpture and drawing. A collection of Tintin drawings by the famed Belgian cartoonist Hergé will also line the walls of the exhibition.

On World Intellectual Property Day, WIPO will announce the results of an international essay competition for university students. Students were requested to submit, in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish, a 2000-word essay on "What does intellectual property mean to you in your daily life." Each of the winners will receive a 1,000 Swiss francs cash prize.

This year's activities also include the introduction of the WIPO Creativity Award scheme. The scheme recognizes individuals or groups whose creativity, artistic skills and imagination have resulted in original works, performances or productions in both the digital and analog environments. The award will be offered to individuals who have made a substantive contribution to cultural, social and economic development in their respective countries. The first award, offered in the framework of WIPO's activities for World Intellectual Property Day 2002, will go to Mr. Rinto Harahap, an Indonesian composer.

Activities at WIPO's headquarters in Geneva include a series of workshops for school-children (aged 8-10 years), to be held throughout the week in cooperation with a local group of animators called "Les petits débrouillards." The animators, together with WIPO officials, will demonstrate that we are all potential inventors and creators. The link between creativity and intellectual property will be made by showing the children that the intellectual property system enables artists, innovators and creators to earn a living from their inventiveness, and in so doing we enjoy a richer selection of products, films, books and art.

Details of events organized in various countries to mark World Intellectual Property Day 2002 are available on the WIPO web site: https://www.wipo.int.

For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:

  • Tel: (+41 22) - 338 81 61 or 338 95 47
  • Fax: (+41 22) - 338 88 10
  • Email: publicinf@wipo.int.
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