An advertisement for World Intellectual Property Day

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) says “green” is the theme for this year’s World Intellectual Property (IP) Day. World IP Day is celebrated each year on April 26 with events hosted worldwide — all with the purpose of spreading awareness of the importance of the patent, trademark and copyright systems to the global economy. Green, of course, refers to the myriad social campaigns for environmental protection and the exponential growth of environmentally friendly products, which one hopes will help save our planet from ecological calamity. Green is all about raising awareness of what we can do to save our troubled planet from man-made threats such as global warming. By the way, in the American vernacular, “green” also means money, a reference to the color of one side of the U.S. currency bills.

WIPO Magazine dedicated its April 2009 issue to the challenges of finding technological solutions to climate change. They’ve posted articles that provide examples of how IP can “contribute to the development of low carbon technologies and their transfer to developing countries.” Articles explore topics such as green design, solar technology, clean energy and plant breeding. Read them at: http://wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2009/02/. The European Patent Office is also looking into eco-oriented technologies. It offers information on emerging technologies such as wind power, car emissions and bioplastics at http://www.epo.org/topics/innovation-and-economy/emerging-technologies.html.

But what’s the link between things green and intellectual property? In order to develop the Earth-saving technologies, the innovators who are to deliver these marvels need to benefit from their research and development (R&D). History has shown us that innovators do the best job of innovating when they have the financial incentive to do so. Economies that welcome innovators and entrepreneurs with the academic, legal and financial framework to do their jobs are more likely to find the engine that does not emit carbon dioxide or the disposable products that will not lay in a landfill for the next millennium. In short, we have to encourage and reward the people who are capable of saving our planet. The global IP system’s intention is to encourage eco-friendly R&D that can be used by us in the North and the West and ultimately be transferred to developing economies.

A friend who heads a “green” telecommunications company says he does so because he believes in eco-friendly products and services from a standpoint of social responsibility. But he also adds, unabashedly, “green is the new green.” He is in business to make money … and better yet if he can make money by spreading a technology that makes the planet a better place to live. I think this convergence of profits and environmental products also applies to the commercial development of eco-friendly products and the need for their patent protection. This IP Day, let’s incentivize the innovators who are building an industry on saving planet Earth.