Freedom Line Blog

Tomorrow (April 26) we celebrate the annual World Intellectual Property Day, recognizing IP’s critical role in protecting and promoting scientific, artistic and commercial innovation.

In that vein, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global IP Center held its 2014 IP Champions event in Washington, D.C. this week to celebrate organizations and people who have particularly embodied and advanced IP over the past year.  It brought a packed audience, the panels were informative and entertaining, and the award recipients spanned an impressive range of scientists, songwriters, entrepreneurs, engineers, foreign dignitaries and political leaders like Congressman Doug Collins (R – Georgia).

Most importantly, the recipients highlighted the critical value of patents, copyrights and trademarks in protecting their creations, encouraging further innovation and – critically – helping protect consumers against unsafe and defective counterfeit goods.  It is no coincidence that the United States stands as the most scientifically and artistically prolific nation in human history, given our tradition of strong IP protections in comparison to other nations and legal systems.  That’s a truism that bears emphasis and preservation in our increasingly interconnected global economy, lest we recede in our leadership role and witness a diminution in the pace of innovation.