Those feeling a post-World Book and Copyright Day letdown will be pleased to learn that today is World Intellectual Property Day, sponsored by the World Intellectual Property Organization and intended "to encourage respect for the IP rights of others":
For many people, the connection between intellectual property and creativity is far from obvious. The word creativity conjures a world of artists and music makers, of poets and problem solvers. Whereas intellectual property all too often summons images of gray-suited lawyers, locked in litigation. But look more closely, and it quickly becomes clear that it is the intellectual property system itself which sustains and nourishes those creators.
If you aren't already partied out and would like to join in the celebration, WIPO encourages you to "organize concerts or other public performances centered around this year's World IP Day theme ["Encouraging Creativity"]" and "arrange for performers to deliver messages encouraging respect for creators and creativity", "mount exhibits at local shopping malls explaining how consumers benefit from strong intellectual property systems", or engage in any number of other fun and exciting "suggested activities".
If only my gray suit were back from the dry cleaner after Monday's raucous festivities . . . .
