World Intellectual Property Day – always celebrated on April 26 – is sponsored by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to help the public gain a better understanding of intellectual property and the impact that patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyrights and trade secrets have in encouraging innovation and creativity throughout the world.
As this year’s theme focuses on “IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future,” Fishman Stewart managing partner Michael Stewart considers the importance of empowering the next generation of creators, inventors and entrepreneurs who will be shaping positive, sustainable change in society through their innovations.
Prior to practicing law, Stewart was an engineer for a major automotive OEM and a systems engineer for the Computer Aided Engineering Network for the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan.
He is a frequent author and speaker on intellectual property protection and enforcement and has lectured to engineering, business and law students at schools such as the University of Michigan and Notre Dame University.
Stewart, who was has been recognized for devoting substantial time and effort in promoting World IP Day programs throughout the United States, knows the potential is great for younger generations to be the drivers of business development, economic development and recovery, and human progress—and intellectual property is the conduit to make that happen.
“There is an extraordinary untapped supply of creativity from today’s young people. These tech savvy digital natives have the pulse of popular culture and are not afraid to use new platforms and methodologies to fuel their resourcefulness,” Stewart said. “That’s why it’s so important to help them realize the opportunity to transform their creativity into reality and teach them how intellectual property rights, when meeting established criteria, can legally protect their innovative works.”
In forming this year’s World IP Day theme, WIPO noted that:
• There are approximately 1.8 billion young people under 24 in the world today.
• Ninety percent of them live in developing countries.
• The proportion of young people under 35 in the world is set to increase in coming years.
• Millennials and Gen Z grew up connected—where the lines between the physical and digital worlds are blurred—producing very entrepreneurial, innovative and creative generations.
From the rise of artificial intelligence to the selling of digital art through non-fungible tokens, the re-recording of older songs by Taylor Swift to thwart the copyright owners of her earlier works, the moving of brands to the metaverse, and even the ability of amateur athletes to now monetize their likenesses, images, and/or names without restriction from the NCAA, creativity continues to play an ever-increasing role in all of our day-to-day lives.
“IP rights can provide researchers, inventors, businesses, designers, artists, students and other young people with the key tools necessary to advance their creations and turn them into intellectual capital—capital that can promote both social change and economic gain.,” Stewart said. “For creators of all types, World IP Day is a reminder of their value in the marketplace and to society.”
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