World Intellectual Property day is celebrated every year on 26 April to raise awareness of intellectual property rights, which exist in the form of patents, trade marks, registered designs and copyright to promote economic growth through innovation and creativity.

This year – appropriately in the year that marks the centenary of women’s suffrage in the UK – World Intellectual Property Day is celebrating “the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity and courage of the women who are driving change in our world and shaping our common future”.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), women inventors were responsible for less than a third of all international patent applications filed in 2015. WIPO is calling for action to close this gender gap.

At Cleveland Scott York, we are delighted to lend our backing to World Intellectual Property Day. Innovation and creativity, commercialised with the protection of effective intellectual property laws are the keys to sustainable economic growth. Meanwhile, maximising the economic benefits of intellectual property depends on having the widest possible participation in the system.

As a firm, we have a strong track-record of supporting women in business. Notably, this year we are sponsoring the Best Customer Service category at the Best Business Women Awards for the third year running.

Beyond this, we will be launching a new diversity policy in the coming months to ensure we are doing all we can as a firm.