World Intellectual Property Day 2006

April 2006

Six years ago, WIPO Member States decided to designate a World Intellectual Property Day. Their aim was to raise awareness of the role of intellectual property in daily life, and to celebrate the contribution made by innovators and artists to the development of societies across the globe. They chose April 26, the date on which the Convention establishing WIPO entered into force in 1970.

The response has grown more enthusiastic every year, with ever more government ministries, NGOs, industry groups, and educational institutions joining the celebrations with new activities and events. This year the theme proposed by WIPO focuses on ideas, as the starting point of all intellectual property. WIPO has dispatched posters and promotional materials to IP offices and organizations around the world; and a 30-second spot promoting World Intellectual Property Day will be broadcast on international television channels.

The next edition of the Magazine will include a round up of reports from Member States on this year’s events.

Message from Director General Kamil Idris
World Intellectual Property Day is an opportunity to encourage people to think about the role played by intellectual property in everyday life, and about its importance in stimulating and safeguarding innovation and creativity. This year we celebrate the starting point of all intellectual property, the seeds from which all innovations and creative works grow – ideas. Mankind’s inexhaustible capacity for producing ideas makes us unique. Yet this extraordinary ability is often taken for granted. We hardly notice the countless ideas we generate every day, or how much of what we value is the fruit of others’ ideas: labor-saving inventions, pleasing designs, life-saving technologies. Ideas shape our world. They are the raw materials on which our future prosperity and heritage depend. This is why it is important to provide environments in which innovative ideas are encouraged and rewarded. This is why intellectual property exists. From the words, music and images which move us to the brands which attract us; from the bicycle to bio-fuel; from the microchip to mobile phone – it all starts with an idea.

Message from Director General Kamil Idris

World Intellectual Property Day is an opportunity to encourage people to think about the role played by intellectual property in everyday life, and about its importance in stimulating and safeguarding innovation and creativity. This year we celebrate the starting point of all intellectual property, the seeds from which all innovations and creative works grow – ideas.

Mankind’s inexhaustible capacity for producing ideas makes us unique. Yet this extraordinary ability is often taken for granted. We hardly notice the countless ideas we generate every day, or how much of what we value is the fruit of others’ ideas: labor-saving inventions, pleasing designs, life-saving technologies.

Ideas shape our world. They are the raw materials on which our future prosperity and heritage depend. This is why it is important to provide environments in which innovative ideas are encouraged and rewarded. This is why intellectual property exists.

From the words, music and images which move us to the brands which attract us; from the bicycle to bio-fuel; from the microchip to mobile phone – it all starts with an idea.

Disclaimer

The WIPO Magazine is intended to help broaden public understanding of intellectual property and of WIPO’s work, and is not an official document of WIPO. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WIPO concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This publication is not intended to reflect the views of the Member States or the WIPO Secretariat. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by WIPO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.