World Intellectual Property Day offers an annual opportunity to acknowledge the importance of intellectual property (IP) in driving global innovation. This year’s theme, “IP and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Building our common future with innovation and creativity,” emphasizes the role IP has in fostering the innovation needed to achieve a sustainable future and make the world a better place. 

The SDGs are a call to action to increase well-being, peace, prosperity and environmental health. Given the complex and multifaceted nature of these global challenges, achieving the 17 SDGs requires a comprehensive approach. Innovative and creative solutions, driven by IP, are central to tackling these complex problems. 

Recent innovations addressing various SDGs underscore how:

IP supports a better future for people by improving health, providing technical solutions for food waste, promoting equality and supporting economic growth: 

• Lucence, a blood test that utilizes advanced sequence analysis to enable early cancer detection, empowers physicians to make better treatment decisions and improve patient health outcomes.
• FreshPaper, botanical-infused sheets that keep produce fresh for longer, helps eliminate food waste at a household level.
• Oaxacantina Chocolate builds on a renewed interest in traditional Mexican culture to revive the country’s cocoa traditions and spur social, economic and environmental development.

IP supports a brighter future for our planet by advancing sustainability and creating clean energy: 

• Vigormin, a powder made from a mixture of orgo-minerals and other natural components, cleans and neutralizes wastewater without the use of harmful chemicals.
• Eco Wave Power harnesses the power of waves to generate electricity, offering a promising new solution to affordable, clean energy.
• Lion Lights, an innovative flashing light system that scares off predators before they attack livestock, ensures that humans and animals can coexist peacefully.

Innovators around the world continue to craft solutions, supported by an IP system that nurtures innovation and creativity, propelling us toward the realization of all 17 SDGs. World IP Day highlights the pivotal role that IP plays in spurring this progress and pushing humanity ahead, reminding us why it should be nurtured and protected.