United States to Commemorate World Intellectual Property Day

Secretary Gary Locke

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will belatedly commemorate World Intellectual Property Day on Thursday, May 5, 2011, in a ceremony at the Rayburn House Office Building in the House Judiciary Committee hearing room.  The event will take place starting at 4:00 pm.  Secretary Locke’s remarks will begin at approximately 4:10 pm, and he is expected to highlight the importance of intellectual property protection and enforcement to the U.S. economy, celebrating the 11th anniversary of World Intellectual Property Day.  World Intellectual Property Day is April 26, 2011, each year.  For more on the worldwide celebration of World Intellectual Property Day this year see Ranting on Congress: Not a Happy World IP Day in the US.

Locke will be joined by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office David Kappos, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, Teresa Stanek Rea, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office,
James Pooley, WIPO Deputy Director General and Q. Todd Dickinson, a former USPTO Director himself and the current Executive Director of the AIPLA. The event is jointly being sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

What is World Intellectual Property Day? In 2000, WIPO member states decided to designate a World Intellectual Property Day to raise awareness of the role of intellectual property in our daily lives, and to celebrate the contribution made by innovators and artists to the development of societies around the world. The date selected for celebrating World Intellectual Property Day was April 26, which was chosen because it was April 26, 1970 when the Convention establishing WIPO entered into force. So today also marks the 41st Anniversary of the establishment of WIPO.

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