World Intellectual Property Day – April 26, 2013.
In order to affirm intellectual property rights, highlight their significant role in the process of development and integration of modern science and culture in the global environment of values, and strengthen and encourage awareness of rights protection, the State Industrial Property Office, on the occasion of the celebration of April 26, World Intellectual Property Day, conveys the message of the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization:
Message from the Director General Francis Gary
April 26 is World Intellectual Property Day. Our theme this year is Creativity – The Next Generation.
Creativity is common to all humanity.
Regardless of who we are, where we live, in what circumstances we find ourselves, we all have the capacity to create. And it is precisely this human creativity and ingenuity that has improved the quality of life in every area: our healthcare, our transportation, our communications, our entertainment. The purpose of intellectual property is to improve the conditions that allow that creative and innovative capacity to flourish around the world.
The way in which humans express themselves creatively has changed completely in the last 30 years. People are creating in a more exciting way than ever before. We are seeing an explosion of user-generated content and large numbers of people connecting – for example, through crowd-sourcing and open innovation platforms – to participate in collective creation. Such creative collaboration opens up rich new perspectives for humanity.
What will the next generation bring?
While it is difficult to predict the future, we do know that the pace of change has accelerated thanks to the new generations. And now we see before us a plethora of new technologies with the potential to fundamentally change the way we live. Change is happening faster and faster. The next generation will arrive tomorrow.
The developments that are coming forward in the natural sciences have the potential to transform our lives. Information technology, molecular biology, regenerative medicine, and even technologies such as 3D printing are converging in and around the natural sciences to generate extraordinary potential.
On World Intellectual Property Day, we encourage people to think about the role of intellectual property in our changing world. I believe there is a certain genius in intellectual property. It creates a unique incentive to invest in research and development, in innovation, and in cultural creation and creation.
How does it do this? By creating a mechanism for buying, selling, and sharing access to the benefits of innovation and cultural creation. Our challenge is to ensure that the conditions for such access are fair and equitable, so that the benefits are widely shared and so that a truly dynamic, creative global society is nurtured in which the next generation can flourish.
Young people have the capacity to dream in a way that surpasses the capacity of their elders. They are the future. My message to the next generation on this World Intellectual Property Day is: keep creating, keep innovating, and keep thinking about how intellectual property will play its role in the future societal governance of creativity and innovation.