WASHINGTON (April 26, 2024) — Today, Executive Director of the Council for Innovation Promotion Frank Cullen released the following statement to mark this year’s World Intellectual Property Day, which focuses on how intellectual property (IP) contributes to and promotes sustainable development:
“Today, we observe World Intellectual Property Day, established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000 to celebrate the role of IP in advancing creativity, science, and technology. This year, WIPO is focusing its attention on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These targets aim to eliminate poverty and hunger while protecting Earth’s environment — including through clean energy, climate action, and biodiversity preservation — which are impossible goals to meet without IP rights.
“We can’t achieve the UN’s 17 SDGs without developing new technologies to overcome the substantial challenges that confront us at every step of the way. And new technology can’t be developed and widely disseminated without robust protections for the patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets that safeguard intellectual property.
“Without IP rights, companies could not have developed and disseminated water-soluble insect protein to combat food insecurity, smart irrigation systems to conserve water, drones to detect air pollution from mining, or myriad other new green technologies.
“To continue to discover and improve on innovations like these, U.S. policymakers, other governments, and international organizations must respect and reinforce the IP rights that make innovation and technological progress possible. Domestically, Congress can support efforts to meet the UN’s 17 SDGs by passing bipartisan reforms like the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA) and the Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act. These bills would restore reliability and confidence in the U.S. patent system, encouraging investment in sustainable technologies and other groundbreaking inventions.
“As we mark World Intellectual Property Day, the Council for Innovation Promotion commends the decades of work by WIPO to strengthen IP worldwide, putting a greener future within our reach, and looks forward to continuing to support WIPO’s mission to promote and protect intellectual property.”
The Council for Innovation Promotion is a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting strong and effective intellectual property rights that drive innovation, boost economic competitiveness, and improve lives everywhere.