The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has recently announced that the theme of this year's World IP Day is: "Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity”, which will "celebrate the 'can do' attitude of women inventors, creators and entrepreneurs around the world and their ground-breaking work".

 

As noted by the WIPO, while the awareness of IP is arguably greater than ever these days, there is still a need for increased awareness of the critical role IP plays in driving innovation, creativity, business growth and sustainable development across many sectors of society, including women. "Women make up nearly half the global population" and represent a huge pool of talent, yet "too few women are participating in the intellectual property (IP) system". The inclusion of more women to use the IP system to protect and add value to their work will help accelerate innovation creation and business growth in the society, which is especially important at a time when building economic resilience is a priority.

 

The World IP Day, observed annually on 26th April, was initiated by the WIPO in 2000 to raise awareness of IP’s vital role and to celebrate creativity as well as the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of economies and societies across the globe.