FAQs

What is the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding?

CIPU is an independent, non-profit education organization dedicated to raising awareness about creations of the mind, the rights that protect them and their impact on people and business.

What does CIPU do?

CIPU provides outreach within an educational framework that seeks to improve IP literacy, promote freedom of ideas and deter infringement. Established in 2016, the Center provides a context for how patents, copyrights and trademarks facilitate innovation, encourage competition and deter theft.

Why is there a need for better IP awareness?

Many business and individuals share a common affliction when it comes to IP: they both prefer not to pay for it unless they have to. They believe that content, inventions and names are free to use, in part, because they have become so highly accessible. Even sophisticated audiences find it difficult to know which rights they must respect and when.

Advances in speed and communications have compounded the confusion, making accessibility a potential threat to innovation, authorship, and, ultimately, jobs. IP owners and users both are angry about the lack of certainty of rights and the inconsistency of how laws are applied. CIPU helps to sort things out.

What are the primary activities for achieving goals?

CIPU holds events, like annual IP Awareness Summits and Washington briefings, which provide a context for discussion and strategy; publishes summary research reports; engages in partnerships with organizations and businesses to promote IP awareness and respect for legitimate rights; and shares information about global IP education activities.

To which audiences are CIPU activities directed?

Primary audiences are IP owners, from global businesses to individual creators, a broad range of educators, entrepreneurs, IP organizations and students. Other audiences include consumers, lawyers, investors and business schools.

How can I participate?

There are many ways to participate in better IP understanding: share your experience with the CIPU community about achieving better IP understanding; ask to receive CIPU updates; join an advisory board; attend CIPU events such as IPAS and Washington briefings; follow CIPU on Twitter and LinkedIn; join the IP Awareness Group; and help us to follow and report on global IP education developments.

Improving IP literacy matters; achieving it requires a range of active participants.