By CropLife International

Society has seen a staggering innovation boom in recent years. Smartphones are slimmer, packed with more features and greater battery power. Cars have sleeker designs, ever-higher gas mileage and technologies that make drivers and riders safer. Crops are more productive, require less water and can be grown on smaller amounts of land. Everywhere we look, new innovations are enriching and sustaining our modern world.

Few people, however, realize the role of intellectual property (IP) in rewarding and protecting those innovators who turn new ideas — from a better cup of coffee to a life-saving drug — into the technologies that sustainably improve the way we live. Intellectual property touches every aspect of our daily lives: you can find patents in your car, design rights in your smart phone and trademarks in your morning cup of coffee. It is a crucial system for protecting new ideas and inventions, yet remains misunderstood by policymakers and the public.

This is why CropLife International has launched IP52, a new user-friendly resource which will change the way we look at the innovations around us, with a better understanding and appreciation for intellectual property. Similar to the Chamber’s IP Delivers campaign, IP52 will turn IP from a dry, complex topic into an engaging and interesting issue that will have your friends and colleagues looking at the world in new way. For the next year, IP52 will release new easy-to-understand resources that explore the basics of IP and how it helps our world thrive, such as:

• IP 101 – Animated videos featuring IP experts explaining the building blocks of IP
• Myths & Truths – Debunking common misconceptions surrounding IP and innovation
• Innovator Profiles – what really drives inventive minds and how are these have creative pioneers changed — and continue to improve —  the world
• Infographics – Finding IP in every industry and in every part of our daily lives
• Benefits of innovation — how the latest versions of common products make an economic and social impact

While IP can be a complicated topic, understanding how it helps us live longer, improve our environment and better connect us is essential to meeting the challenges of our growing world. IP52’s resources and the IP Delivers campaign can improve understanding of the innovation process and spark conversations with policymakers and the public.

To get involved in the IP52 program, visit IP52.org to download materials and sign up for CropLife International’s weekly newsletter.