PURPOSE: Every 26 April, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the International Community celebrate World Intellectual Property Day to highlight the role that intellectual property (IP) rights play in encouraging innovation and creativity. The campaign offers a unique opportunity every year to join with others around the globe to celebrate the world's inventors and creators and to reflect on the many ways IP shapes our lives, by contributing to the success of the global music and arts scene and by driving the technological innovation that helps shape our world.
FORUM: "IP and Sports: Ready, Set, Innovate!" World IP Day 2026. Sports aren’t just about the game — they intersect with fashion, entertainment, media, health, gaming and consumer goods. IP such as patents, designs, trademarks, and copyrights, incentivizes innovation and enables cross-industry connections with sport, sparking creativity, technological advancement and economic growth. Even when you’re outside the stadium or off the court, sports and IP are part of your daily life – just look down at the sneakers on your feet. Cutting-edge equipment, team identities, broadcasts of unforgettable sporting moments and more: intellectual property (IP) is key to protecting and promoting the inventions, designs, brands and stories that drive the world of sports, inspire athletes and unite fans everywhere. How does IP drive innovation, global development and economic growth across the sports industry? Expand your knowledge of IP rights beyond the game. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #IPandmusic, #26April, #WorldIPday, #InnovationandCreativity, #IntellectualProverty, #Patents, #Trademarks, #Industrialdesign, #Innovations.
EVENT: On April 26th, we will celebrate the World IP Day 2026 to better understand how creativity and innovation, backed by IP rights, keep the world of sports thriving, dynamic and accessible for everyone, everywhere. This event will focus on the role of IP rights—including patents, trademarks, and copyrights—in encouraging innovation and creativity. Join the celebrations will honor the contributions of the creators, inventors and entrepreneurs working behind the scenes to push the boundaries of athletic performance, improve audience experience and bring sports events to every home. Register to participate!
COMPETITION: You are invited to participate to the World IP Day Youth Video Competition entitled "Game Changers: IP powering Sports Innovation". Enter the World IP Day 2026 Youth Video Competition and unleash your creativity by showing how IP fuels innovation in the world of sports. Take part for a chance to win a top prize worth CHF 3,000.
PUBLICATIONS: Intellectual Property in Esports. Using IP in competitive gaming. Across the world, competitive video gaming events have become a powerful reality, drawing millions of fans with esports generating US$1.8 billion in revenue in 2023. Intellectual property rights in esports allow different stakeholders—from video game publishers and brands to esports organizers, teams, and players—to protect and profit from their creative works and innovations. Without IP protection, key players of the video game industry would struggle to monetize their contributions and make a living from esports, and in turn, fans and players would not enjoy their favorite video games. Understanding how IP rights function within the esports ecosystem is vital for contributors to this dynamic industry. Intellectual Property and Esports: An overview of the game. Read the full guide!
STATEMENTS: Read the full Message from WIPO Director General Daren Tang on World Intellectual Property Day 2026; April 26th.
PODCASTS: World IP Day is a great opportunity to get people interested in issues relating to intellectual property (IP). Let’s talk about How IP rights can support your goals, help transform ideas into reality, generate income, create jobs and make a positive impact on the world around you. Listen to the audio-podcasts!
CAMPAIGN MATERIALS: "IP and Sports: Ready, Set, Innovate!" Campaign. Today we celebrate innovative, creative and enterprising change-makers around the world. The Change-makers’ Gallery features inventors, creators and entrepreneurs who are building a sustainable future for everyone, everywhere. Get the Social media kit and the Campaign Materials!
WHY WE CELEBRATE THE DAY?
WIPO's member states designated April 26 – the day on which the WIPO Convention came into force in 1970 – as World IP Day with the aim of increasing general understanding of IP. Every year, we celebrate World Intellectual Property Day to learn about the role that intellectual property (IP) rights play in encouraging innovation and creativity. in Exploring the SDGs through patents; in teaching us about Technologies for sustainability in explaining The geographical distribution of sustainable innovation and the patent owners driving it and in Mapping Innovations: Patents and the Sustainble Development Goals.
ACTIONS
Let’s work towards gender parity in IP and unleash the ingenuity and creativity of women and girls everywhere. Together, we can build a better tomorrow.
Celebrate the ingenuity, creativity, drive and vision of the world’s young innovators, creators and entrepreneurs to build a better future
Encourage innovation and creativity.
Exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of IP Rights
PARTNERSHIPS
The World Intellectual Property Day is hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), the Benelux Organization for Intellectual Property (BOIP), Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO), the European Patent Organisation (EPO), the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), the Interstate Council on the Protection of Industrial Property (ICPIP), the Nordic Patent Institute (NPI), the Patent Office of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC Patent Office); the Visegrad Patent Institute (VPI).