WIPO Shows You That You are at Home with Inventions

Geneva, May 28, 1999
Press Releases PR/1999/171

The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, will inaugurate on Monday May 31, 1999 an exhibition entitled "At Home with Invention" which shows to what extent intellectual property is part of our daily lives. This is in the context of the Director General’s efforts to meet one of the top priorities he has set for the Organization, namely the demystification of intellectual property.

For the next six months, an area of 60 square meters at WIPO’s Information Center will be transformed into an apartment, a home. The layout will replicate a traditional home – there will be a living area, a bedroom, a space for dining, a kitchen, and so on. Most of the objects that will go on display have at some point in time been the object of a patent, trademark or industrial design application (see attachment). Copyright will also be on show with novels and magazines lining the bookshelves of this mythical home and music from CDs resonating in the background.

From the refrigerator, to the microwave oven, to the television, the compact disc player, the tea-cup, the chair, the sofa, the computer, the bottle opener - the home is full of inventions that so often are taken for granted, but have gone a long way to improve our living conditions and entertain us in our time. While people are often impressed with inventions such as the cellular telephone, the supersonic airplane, or the computer, people tend to take for granted inventions such as the little ring you pull back to open a can or the paperclip or even the comb. These inventions also fit under the category of intellectual property and are deserving of protection.

"There are those who think that intellectual property is something reserved for lawyers and experts, that it is not accessible to the public at large. This could not be further from the truth. Intellectual property is very much a part of our daily lives and the exhibition ‘At Home with Invention’ demonstrates this point. We are very much at home with intellectual property," said Dr. Idris. He pointed out that the aim of the exhibition is to sensitize the public about the benefits of the intellectual property system. It demonstrates how relatively simple ideas, that today have become household objects, benefited from the protection provided by the system. Creators of these works, who could be a housewife, reaped financial gain as a result of the intellectual property system and as a result were, in most cases, encouraged to further innovate.

The WIPO exhibition opens to the public on June 1 and will run through December 3, 1999. The Information Center is open from Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

For further information, please call the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section:

Tel. : (+41 22) 338 81 61ou 338 98 24,
Fax. :(+41 22) 338 88 10
E-mail. : publicinf@wipo.int

Or, The Information Center: 338 81 81
Or, Consult the WIPO web site at : https://www.wipo.int

"AT HOME WITH INVENTION" EXHIBIT

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

What is a patent?

Simply stated, a patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention that allows the owner to license others to use the invention, often for commercial gain. The invention must provide a new way of doing something or a new technical solution to a problem. People tend to overlook the fact that a patent is granted for a limited period, generally 20 years. After that time, an invention enters the public domain and becomes available for commercial exploitation by others.

The value of a patent is that it provides incentives to people by offering them recognition for their creativity and material reward for their marketable inventions. The incentives encourage innovation, which assures that the quality of human life is continuously enhanced.

There is a tendency to neglect the technology aspects of patents. In return for the granting of a patent, an owner must publicly disclose information on their invention. This enriches the total body of technical knowledge in the world which promotes further creativity and innovation.

What is a trademark?

The origin of a trademark dates back to ancient times when craftsmen reproduced their signatures, or "marks" on their artistic or utilitarian products. Over the years, these marks evolved into today’s system of trademark registration and protection. Like patents, a trademarks provides protection to the owner by ensuring the exclusive right to use it to identify goods or services or to authorize another to use it in return for payment. The period of protection varies, but a trademark can be renewed indefinitely beyond the time limit.

Trademarks promote initiative and enterprise worldwide by rewarding the owners with recognition and financial profit. Trademark protection also hinders efforts of unfair competitors to use similar distinctive signs to market inferior or different products or services. The system helps consumers identify and purchase a product or service because its nature and quality, indicated by its unique trademark, meets their needs. The trademark system enables people with skill and enterprise to produce and market goods in the fairest possible conditions, thereby facilitating international trade.

What is an industrial design?

An industrial design is the part of an invention that makes it attractive and appealing, it is the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. This adds to an article’s commercial value and increases its marketability. Protecting an industrial design ensures the owner against unauthorized copying or imitation of the design by third parties. Industrial designs are applied to a wide variety of products from industry and handicraft: from technical and medical instruments to watches and jewelry; from housewares and electrical appliances to vehicles and architectural structures; from textile designs to leisure goods. An industrial design is non-functional, it is something primarily of aesthetic nature, and does not refer to technical features of the invention.

As is the case with trademarks and patents, protecting industrial designs encourages economic development by encouraging creativity in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, as well as in traditional arts and crafts. They contribute to the expansion of commercial activities and the export of national products. Industrial designs can be relatively simple to develop and protect. Depending on the particular national law and the kind of design, an industrial design may also be protected as a work of art under copyright law. In other countries, they are mutually exclusive: once the owner chooses one kind of protection, he can no longer invoke the other.

What is copyright?

Copyright is a legal term describing rights given to creators for their literary and artistic works. This covers novels, poems, plays, newspapers, computer programs, films, musical compositions, paintings, drawings, sculpture, architecture, and so on. Original creators hold an exclusive right to use or authorize others to use the work on agreed terms. Authors of a creative work will often sell the rights for royalties. These economic rights, according to WIPO-administered treaties, have a time limit of 50 years after the author’s death.

A major challenge for the international intellectual property community is to ensure the protection of copyright in the digital age. Dissemination of works through the Internet has raised new questions concerning copyright. The WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonogram Treaty – often known together as the "Internet Treaties" - set down international norms aimed at preventing unauthorized access to and use of creative works on the Internet or other digital networks.

Protecting copyright is important because this gives incentives to creators in the form of recognition and fair economic rewards. Under this system, creators are assured that their works can be disseminated without fear of unauthorized copying or piracy. This, consequently, helps increase access to and enhances enjoyment of culture, knowledge and entertainment all over the world.