In 2000, WIPO designated 26 April, the date in 1970 when its establishing convention came into force, as World IP Day in order to make IP more relevant to our everyday lives.

On 26 April 2010, WIPO will have double cause for celebration – the 10th anniversary of World IP Day and the 40th anniversary of the entry into force of its establishing convention. The WIPO theme for World IP Day 2010 is Innovation – Linking the World.

So why is IP important in the UK?We all have contact with IP in one form or another every day at work or at home, when we use a computer or scanner/copier, access the internet, send emails, copy music or record a TV programme.

I see World IP Day as an opportunity to help raise the profile of IP within the legal and other professions and highlight its value and importance. It can also be a useful tool to highlight an IP policy, or the need for one, within a business.

Our IP historySince Tudor times the UK has had a long history of innovation and IP, with letters patent, Crown patronage and royal monopolies granted to courtiers to encourage creativity and invention.

Ten years in reviewWIPO’s online World IP Day archive provides a fascinating history of 10 years of artwork and events in the UK and around the world. The very first World IP Day 2010 event was organised by the Guernsey Intellectual Property Office, and many more will follow in April within the UK.

IP for IP’s sakeOver the years in IP, I have forged some very useful relationships with other fellow IP enthusiasts and professionals, including my contacts at WIPO, the Intellectual Property Office and IPKat, the IP blog.

Promoting World IP DayI have spoken on several occasions at Edinburgh and London IP update conferences about, among other matters, why we should all celebrate World IP Day. These sessions always produce a lot of questions, business cards and follow-up contacts. It does still appear, however, that World IP Day is not as widely known about or celebrated among IP professionals and lawyers as one might expect.

UK IP is a reserved matter for Westminster. David Lammy MP, minister of state for higher Education and intellectual property, is responsible for the Intellectual Property Office in Newport, which is a major supporter of World IP Day and organiser of related events.

World IP Day is the one day of the year when we get a chance to celebrate IP, and I think we should have a more national approach to its promotion, ideally with wider media interest.

Local conferenceFor the past three years, the Law Society of Scotland and Faculty of Advocates have organised a World IP Day conference in Edinburgh. This year, advocate Roisin Higgins and I are co-chairing a lunchtime conference on Friday 23 April with speakers from the Intellectual Property Office in Newport and Performing Right Society for Music in London. Sponsored by Dell and the Scottish Society for Computers and Law, more event details can be found at http://www.lawscot.org.uk/update/Event.aspx?e=480.

Let them eat cakeOver the past few years I have visited my local supermarket bakery counter to order some cakes decorated with World IP Day artwork. The first time I did this I was asked if I had the consent of the copyright owner to use the artwork supplied. On confirming that I did, I received my cakes. The following year, I was asked for written evidence of such consent and was able to produce some emails confirming the position. It was explained to me that the supermarket had recently been mentioned in a newspaper article and had to be very careful about copyright.

I searched the internet and found the article. A mother had asked her local supermarket to reproduce a Doctor Who photograph on her son’s birthday cake. They had refused to do so, without the written permission of David Tennant. A national newspaper became involved, Mr Tennant’s written permission was obtained, the cake was produced and the article published!

So how are you going to celebrate World IP Day on 26 April?

Graeme McWilliams is a Scottish solicitor, legal adviser, IP & E-Commerce, Standard Life, Edinburgh, and a member of the IP and technology committees, and the IP accreditation panel of the Law Society of Scotland. The opinions expressed are personal views which do not reflect the views of Standard Life group.