Celebrating Sport This World Intellectual Property Day
Established by The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) April 26th marks World Intellectual Property Day. This day serves as a unique opportunity to educate people about Intellectual Property (IP) rights and highlight the importance IP plays in fostering innovation and creativity. Entitled ‘Reach for Gold’ this year’s theme explores the world of sport and how IP rights in the form of Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Copyright encourage and protect this global industry.
With just over 4 million in population, Ireland is seen as a small country. Despite this however, Ireland is renowned worldwide for its sporting prowess and talented sports stars. Continuous achievements and success in sporting areas including rugby, horse racing, boxing and golf have put Ireland on the map while individuals like Katie Taylor, Rory McElroy and Johnny Sexton have become world renowned sports stars. Not bad for a little island.
Sports Tech Industry on the rise
Advancements in technology have played a significant role in the sports landscape. Digital technology has provided opportunities to watch sporting events from anywhere in the world, while sports equipment has evolved due to continuous developments in innovation. Ireland’s sporting landscape is no different with growth of the sports technology industry rising. Currently there is at least 43 companies within the sports tech industry in Ireland with half of these companies founded in the last three years. Companies such as Statsports and Orreco are delivering pioneering technological processes in the sporting world which allow for the monitoring and improvement of an athletes training and performance. Digital Technology has also allowed Croke Park one of Ireland’s largest stadiums, become a test venue in becoming a Smart Stadium. By using the Internet of Things (IOT) technology, the stadium has been able to collect vast amounts of data which can be used to improve the workings within the stadium from noise level measurements to monitoring an athlete’s performance during sports games.
These examples within the sports industry demonstrate the important need for intellectual property rights and how by obtaining intellectual property protection can encourage and promote the development of such technology and creativity we are witnessing in this industry across the world.
Check out WIPO to read more about how this theme is being explored and how other countries are celebrating this years World Intellectual Property Day.
