World Intellectual Property Day - The Power of Ideas [It Starts with an Idea]

World IP Day 2006 Focuses on the Power of Ideas

The power of ideas as the seedbed for innovation and creativity is theme of this year’s World Intellectual Property (IP) Day on April 26, 2006, a press release by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) stated.

In his message to mark the sixth World IP Day, Dr. Kamil Idris, WIPO director, emphasized on the limitless value of ideas in inspiring the work of inventors and creators from which we all ultimately benefit. He said that the "World Intellectual Property Day is an occasion to reflect on how human creativity and innovation help provide a better world for everyone".

Dr. Idris released the following message:
“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.

WIPO member states decided, in 2000, to designate a World Intellectual Property Day to raise awareness of the role of intellectual property in our daily lives, and to celebrate the contribution made by innovators and artists to the development of societies across the globe. April 26 was chosen as this was the date on which the Convention establishing WIPO entered into force in 1970. WIPO and its member states have celebrated World Intellectual Property Day on April 26 each year since its inception in 2001.

WIPO is committed to promoting an intellectual property culture in which there is broad-based understanding of the role and value of intellectual property. Through well-balanced IP systems and structures, WIPO seeks to help creators across the globe to generate economic value from their creations, and so to contribute to the social, cultural and economic advancement of their own societies and of the wider world.”

A list of activities organized by WIPO member states on the occasion of World Intellectual Property Day is available at http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/world_ip/2006/activities.html

Rodney D. Ryder