The celebration of World Intellectual Property Day at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office was held on April 26, 2017, where April 26th is the official anniversary date.
After the Chief Policy Officer of the USPTO, Shira Perlmutter, started the event, there where a number of distinguished speakers, including John Sandage, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Deputy Director General, Patent and Technology Sector, Joseph Ferretti, Vice President and Chief Counsel, Global Trademarks at PepsiCo, Inc. and President of the International Trademark Association (INTA), Jeanine Hayes, Chief IP Officer of Nike, Inc., and Mario Bollini, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Global Research Innovation and Technology, Inc. (GRIT). Ms. Hayes demonstrated Nike’s commitment to improving lives with innovation, this year’s WIPD theme, with the latest in Nike technology. Mr. Bollini then demonstrated his all-terrain Freedom Chair for the disabled.
it was a hard act to follow, but follow I did with my talk on the History of Innovation, with examples of important inventors that improved lives, such as Edison (the light bulb illuminating the night ), Morse (transmission of information faster than horses), various medical innovations, such as that of Raymond Damadian of Fonar (the creator of the magnetic resonance imager) and many other fascinating technologies.
I also talked about the origins of the intellectual property laws and the reasons we have them. For patent and copyright, our Founders enshrined these rights into the Constitution itself – with the other “rights” set forth in the attachment, The Bill of Rights. Also, our Founders in essence democratized the U.S. patent system, permitting anyone to file for and obtain a patent. This was a big change from the systems on the Continent. George Washington extolled the benefits of a patent system in the First Inaugural Address. Also, Abraham Lincoln was an avid fan of the patent system and spoke at length about its advantages – equating the importance of the patent system to the founding of the United States.
The above speakers also spoke later at the Senate Hart building, and numerous Congressmen showed up, including Representative Goodlatte of Virginia, with whom I spoke about the importance of the patent system benefiting all Americans, whether individuals, small companies or large corporations. We both strongly agreed that this was in America’s best interest. Under his direction, the House of Representatives that day approved by a vote of 378-48 the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (H.R. 1695), which would make the appointment of the Copyright Registrar a Presidential one (instead of the current Librarian of Congress) and for a term of ten years.
I should also add that Senator Coons of Delaware, a staunch supporter of the patent system, also spoke. His strong advocacy of the patent system is quite welcome to the patent bar and all innovators relying on the patent system.
Van Dyke Intellectual Property Law 