World Intellectual Property Day - 26 April 2012
World Intellectual Property Day is an opportunity to celebrate the contribution that intellectual property makes to innovation and cultural creation – and the immense good that these two social phenomena bring to the world.
It is an opportunity to create greater understanding about the role of intellectual property as a balancing mechanism between the competing interests which surround innovation and cultural creation: the interests of the individual creator and those of society; the interests of the producer and those of the consumer; the interest in encouraging innovation and creation, and the interest in sharing the benefits that derive from them.
This year the theme of World IP Day is "Visionary Innovators" – people whose innovations transform our lives. Their impact is enormous. They can, at times, change the way society operates.
Read Director General Gurry's whole message on the WIPO website.