77 Organizations along with the Property Rights Alliance Celebrate World IP Day

Section: Members Highlights / WTA Blog
26 April 2019 | Property Rights Alliance / USA
USA

 

In celebration of World IP day, an international coalition of 77 organizations from 39 countries along with Property Rights Alliance has launched an open letter addressed to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Director General Dr. Francis Gurry, urging WIPO to double its efforts in advising governments to protect intellectual property rights.

As noted by the letter:

“This year’s theme, Reach for Gold: IP and Sports, is emblematic for World IP Day. Competition, just as it is for sports, is a core principle behind intellectual property rights. When IPRs are protected, markets are formed that encourage innovators to compete to make the next breakthrough product consumers demand — be it training equipment, a smart sensor, or a new media platform.”

The protection of intellectual property rights is imperative to innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. IP-intensive industries are responsible for generating nearly 40 percent of the combined U.S. & EU GDP. When countries implement strong IP protections in trade agreements, they see greater imports of R&D intensive products.

Throughout the day, Property Rights Alliance will be engaging in a social media campaign to promote the importance of protecting intellectual property rights and its benefits to human life and economic growth around the world.

Property Rights Alliance Executive Director Lorenzo Montanari adds that this is an “international group coming together to say that IP rights aren’t just for rich countries or the well connected they are fundamental human rights.”

The letter states that “it is increasingly imperative that, as firms spend a greater share of revenues on researching and discovering new innovations, that more countries enforce IP protections in order for their economies to avoid being left behind.”

In honor of World IP Day Property Rights Alliance joins WIPO in this annual day of celebration, remarking, “World IP Day is an opportunity to celebrate that which is uniquely human: constant innovation, reinvention, and curiosity. But we must do more to protect these fundamental human rights.”