WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAY
Established by WIPO in 2000, World Intellectual Property Day will be celebrated for the 24th time on April 26, 2024. This dedicated occasion provides an opportunity for States, WIPO, offices and all partners in charge of intellectual property management to demonstrate the important role of this tool in the economic, social and cultural development of countries.
The theme chosen for this year’s celebration is :
Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development Goals: Building our common future through innovation and creativity.
One of the questions that can be asked in relation to this theme is what contribution innovation and creativity can make to achieve the goals of sustainable development.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015. These 17 goals are a global call to eradicate poverty, protect the Planet and ensure that all human beings live in peace and prosperity by 2030. In particular, these goals take into account creativity, know-how and technology, which are the main domains of intellectual property.
The 17 SDGs are integrated, i.e., interventions in one area have a positive impact on the other.
Sustainable development must also balance social, economic and environmental aspects.
Countries have pledged to accelerate progress for those furthest behind. The SDGs are designed to put an end to poverty, hunger, AIDS and discrimination against women and girls.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are as follows:
1- NO POVERTY
2- ZERO HUNGER
3- GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
4- QUALITY EDUCATION
5- GENDER EQUALITY
6- CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
7- CLEAN AND AFFORDABLE ENERGY
8- DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
9- INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
10- REDUCED INEQUALITY
11- SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
12- RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION
13- MEASURES TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE
14- AQUATIC LIFE
15- TERRESTRIAL LIFE
16- PEACE, JUSTICE AND EFFECTIVE INSTITUTIONS
17- PARTNERSHIPS TO ACHIEVE THE GOALS
PI’S CONTRIBUTION TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
To build a future on a humanistic view and thus achieve the sustainable development goals we have set ourselves, the people and governments of the world to rethink the way we live, work and play.
With respect to this , the SDGs are the compass that guides us towards living together, towards greater justice, peace and prosperity, and towards better preservation of our planet. The difficulties that await us on this path are sometimes hidden. To meet this challenge, we need to call on individual and collective genius worldwide, and on the maximum of material and financial resources that are available, but often poorly distributed. For a common and sustainable future throughout the world, this call is particularly urgent when it comes to intellectual property, i.e. human genius.
Far from being exhaustive, here are just a few examples of how intellectual property can contribute in achieving sustainable development goals:
Objective 1- NO POVERTY: one of the ways to eradicate poverty is to create more jobs. An invention (usually an innovation) it is often at the origin of the creation of a business and the jobs that go with it;
Objective 2- « ZERO » HUNGER: the protection of more productive plant varieties, resistant to disease and local weather conditions, is increasingly an effective response in achieving this objective;
Objective 3- GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING: pharmaceutical companies, holders of several patents for the invention of medicines, contribute to a better health worldwide and longer life expectancy;
Objective 4- HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION: innovative, high-performance teaching tools developed by inventor-researchers facilitate learning while respecting the environment.
Objective 5- GENDER EQUALITY: the international legal system regarding intellectual property, to which almost all States in the world have adhered, establishes strict equality between the sexes. World Intellectual Property Day 2023 was dedicated to women to accelerate the pace of innovation and creativity. Without taking into account the contribution of the interconnections of the different sustainable development objectives between them, it remains understood that each example taken above can be the subject of greater development. At the end of this short reflection, the nagging question of the political will of states to implement the SDGs remains raised.
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