Intellectual Property is of vital relevance especially in today’s tech driven world. This world with so many different cultures have been continuously growing and mutating as parts of societal growth. Culture, as it is understood, is the totality of multiple elements of any society which summed up together endow the quality of distinctiveness to the particular society. But such aspects of culture are the result of centuries of creation, innovation, development and growth in form of contributions by the members of that specific society to which the culture belongs to.
ALSO READ: Opinion | Guwahati Under Water: A Crisis Of Floods And Government Apathy
So distinctively unique is the element of creation and innovation, that amongst many only a few are bestowed with this ability to produce artistically and scientifically. Once a new element is added to the culture by an individual, that individual becomes eligible for exercising his/her right as the creator/ innovator/developer of that particular element.
Since the element is born out of the intellectual abilities of an individual in all its newness, that element may be attributed as a property of the creator/ innovator/developer and the right becomes his/her intellectual property rights, in short, IP. It is very vital to protect the IP rights so that creativity, ingenuity and hard work is duly recognised. This further encourages and inspires similar or fresher contributions from other members of the society at large.
It is extremely significant to safeguard IP rights especially in today’s world because different kinds of contents/information starts pouring even in the small handsets immediately and in various platforms just in our finger tips from across the world. But IP rights and claims in itself can stand tall with being recognised as truly relevant with the support of due legislation and effective action by concerned organisations.
Due to the growing relevance of IP, the United Nations founded the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) having headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, with the goal to “serve world innovators and creators, ensuring that their ideas travel safely to the market and improve lives everywhere”. WIPO, further went a step ahead and declared 26th April as World Intellectual Property Day in 2000 with the aim to – “raise awareness of how patents, copyrights, trademarks and designs impact on daily lives” and “celebrate creativity and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of economies and societies across the globe”.
26th April became the chosen date because it coincides with the date on which the Convention establishing the WIPO came into force in 1970. Since then World Intellectual Property Day has been the largest IP public outrage campaign. IP covers the scope of researchers, innovators, businesses, designers, artists and so on by legally shielding their innovative and creative outputs and also enabling secured economic returns.
In India IP are recognised in the areas of – copyright, trademarks, patents, geographical indications, plant varieties, industrial designs and semiconductor circuit layout designs. This is to protectively balance creative works and public interests.
World IP Day 2025 – theme – IP and Music: Feel the beat, is very catch and contemporary. Music is so much a part of our lives that without the melodies and rhythms there is an unimaginable void. The theme is laid to celebrate the craftsmanship of musicians who unites people from all genre, evokes pure powerful emotions, inspires actions and calls for the change we want to perceive around us.
As this is penned, somewhere someone might be humming the lyrics s/he has jotted to add melody to the notes even without pondering upon the infringement of IP right. IP rights thus will apply to protect the creations of the musicians, composers and other music creators who help make the world a better place by ensuring that they are rewarded for their work.
Assam is a land of uniqueness in terms of its culture and traditions. But that has not stopped the society from exploring more in terms of fresh creations and innovations. Indeed, with the spread of education and literacy there is an emerging bunch of young talents who are ready to make their mark. At the same time, the society faces the challenge of preserving and safeguarding what originally belongs to the people of the land, the original creators and the innovators.
The challenge today arises in the face of the fact that nothing can be contained within boundaries. Some of them in part or full spills over politico-geographical borders making each responsible towards stamping what originally is created/innovated by them. Deep knowledge and awareness of IP rights is very important to help understand the pivotal role of IP in motivating creativity, innovation and business growth.
Assam is currently undergoing rapid changes in its socio-economic and cultural ethos. Especially Guwahati being the melting pot of the north eastern region of India (if I may take the liberty to say so) becomes exposed to many facets of misuse at many times just by being in the prominent position and situation in the region. While this gives the city the liveliness with all its hustle and bustle, the fact that underlying the changing scenarios there always lurks the factor of losing the element of exclusivity in many aspects of the socio-cultural and economic patterns.
One of the best ways to secure the claims of originality in creativity and innovations from being tampered is through the use of IP rights. There is no better way than to seek legally backed means and methods to protect the work and the entitlements of the original creator.
But here as is in any other place, concerned organisation, bodies and agents must bear it upon themselves to spread the message of effectiveness of IP rights and the need to exercise the use of IP rights. That way the many talents of creativity and innovativeness shall not be lost. Contrarily it will boost the zeal amongst the creators/innovators to come up with more original work without the fear of fading away into obscurity.
(All views and opinions expressed are author’s own)
