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16 April 2008

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) will celebrate the World Intellectual Property (WIP) day on 25 April 2008. The event is usually celebrated every year across the globe as World Intellectual Property Day on April 26. The celebration will take place at the DTI campus in Sunnyside, Pretoria. Members of the public and the media are invited to attend.

The celebration will be in the form of a day long programme of events that will include keynote speeches that will be delivered by the Director General of DTI, Tshediso Matona, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CIPRO, Keith Sendwe. There'll also be exhibitions and free intellectual property advice and information from industry stakeholders and legal experts.

The event is intended to raise awareness of how intellectual property touches our daily lives and how respecting intellectual property creates wealth for the economy for the benefit of all.

The WIP day came into being after member states of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) realised that most people all over the world viewed copyright, patents, industrial designs and trademarks as business or legal concepts with little relevance to their own lives.

The purpose of the WIP day, which was launched eight years ago, is to celebrate innovation and promote respect for intellectual property, human creativity, acknowledgment of economic and social importance of protecting intellectual property rights and to encourage further innovations and creativity. The theme for 2008 is "Innovation Respected".

On WIP day we celebrate not only the enormous power of human creativity, but also the intellectual property rights that help to fuel and channel it, making it such an important driving force for economic, cultural and social development. We also pay tribute to the inventors and artists, great and small, who enrich our existence, through social and cultural development and economic liberation with the fruits of their innovative thoughts and creative vision. We acknowledge that it is their intellectual property rights that they have earned, through their individual and collective talents that deserve our admiration, protection, and respect.

Each year, WIPO and its member states celebrate WIP day with activities, events and campaigns. These seek to increase public understanding of what Intellectual Property (IP) really means, and to demonstrate how the IP system fosters not only music, arts and entertainment, but also all the products and technological innovations that help to shape our world.

Contact:
Bongani Lukhele
Tel: 012 394 1693
E-mail: blukhele@thedti.gov.za
Rudzani Mahwasane
Tel: 012 394 5424
E-mail: rmahwasane@cipro.gov.za

Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
16 April 2008