Author Nick Taylor and Inventor Peter Schultz Discuss the Role of
Intellectual Property in Shaping Arts and Sciences in Today’s Global Economy
Washington, DC Approximately one hundred participants celebrated World Intellectual Property Day today at an event co-hosted by The International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Members of Congress and their staffs joined representatives from Washington’s intellectual property community to celebrate the significance of creativity and innovation in people’s daily lives.
“Protecting America’s Creativity Around the World” is the theme of this year’s local event.
“In today’s global market, competition for jobs is becoming fierce. America must protect its most abundant resource: the ingenuity, creativity and resourcefulness of its authors, inventors and artists,” notes IIPI President Bruce A. Lehman. “World Intellectual Property Day gives us the opportunity to reflect on how fortunate Americans are to have a system that rewards people with new ideas and the chance to think of further ways to encourage home-grown innovation.” Lehman served as Director of the USPTO during the Clinton administration.
Speakers at the April 28th event included: Jon W. Dudas, Acting Undersecretary of Commerce and Acting Director of the USPTO; Nick Taylor, best-selling author who wrote Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-year Patent War; and Peter C. Schultz, Ph.D., a former scientist at Corning, Inc. and the co-developer of the world’s first practical glass optical fiber for communications.
In his comments, Schultz noted that none of the remarkable advances achieved during his tenure at Corning would have been possible “without the stimulation of and commercial protection afforded by strong intellectual property laws around the world.” He remarked that he didn’t think “any company would readily finance such an effort without some strong assurances that their innovations and unique know-how could be protected so that they could reap the rewards of their efforts through patent grants and licensing, rather than lose them to unlicensed competitors riding on the coat tails of their efforts.”
Florida Congressman Tom Feeney, a founding member of the bi-partisan,
bi-cameral IP Caucus, remarked on the importance of encouraging innovation through the intellectual property system.
World Intellectual Property Day will be recognized worldwide throughout the week of April 26, 2004. Events designed to educate people about the necessity of the intellectual property system will be held in Austria, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, India, Estonia, Sudan and Pakistan and other nations. Visit www.wipo.org for additional information.