World celebrates Intellectual Property Day on April 26

CAIRO – 26 April 2021: World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated annually on April 26.

This is based on the decision issued by the members of the World Intellectual Property Organization "WIPO" on the day that coincides with the establishment of the organization in 1970. 

What is the purpose of this day?

It was decided to allocate that day for the purpose of educating the public about the importance of that topic, so most people would be well versed in intellectual property, patents, industrial designs, copyright and trademarks.

Today, this aims to increase awareness of the importance and impact of intellectual property on daily life, boost understanding of how intellectual property is protected and its role in increasing creativity and innovation, to celebrate creativity and the contributions made by innovative creators to the development of societies and to encourage respect for intellectual property rights.

But what is the concept of intellectual property?

It is a class of possessions that includes the intangible creations of the human mind. Some countries recognize more types of intellectual property than others. They include patents, copyrights, design rights, trademarks, plant variety rights, commercial appearance, geographical indications and trade secrets.

There are also more specialized or derivative types of unique exclusive rights, such as protection of integrated circuit designs, certificates of complementary protection for pharmaceutical products (after the patent that protects them has expired) and database rights in European law.

The term "industrial property" is sometimes used to refer to a large subset of intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, industrial designs, utility models, service marks, trade names and geographical indications.