World Intellectual Property Day 2018

Each 26th day of April we observe World Intellectual Property Day.

It originates from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since the year 2000 in an effort to raise awareness of patents, copyright, trademark and the designs they protect in our activities of daily living and to celebrate the creative process and innovation. The day was selected because it coincides with the date in 1970 upon which that convention establishing WIPO went into effect.

My personal views of intellectual property litigation revolve around this gut feeling that the scope of purview is too broad in many instances.

While I feel there is a place for intellectual property rights ... there are too many so-called "patent and copyright trolls" out there seeking to pounce on anyone with a new idea claiming infringement which I have repeatedly found to be well beyond far fetched — to the point of groping for merely unsubstantiated appearances. Luckily, I don't rule the world or there would be quite a few unhappy copyright and patent holders out there after they finally got my foot removed from their butts.

A new idea or a fresh spin on an old one is thwarted entirely too often over intellectual property law regardless of relevance. Innovation gets thwarted when trolls grub for litigious money. Then there are the actual thieves who steal someone's idea and have the audacity to call it "innovation" on their part.