Innovating for a green future through Intellectual Property
Every year on April 26th, World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated to encourage creators and inventors, recognizing their original and innovative work, and encouraging them to continue to add value to the intangibles of businesses, enterprises and the economy in general.
In this 2020, the World Intellectual Property Organization has designated as the theme for this celebration “Innovating for a Green Future”. Without a doubt, with the passing of time and with technological development and the impact it generates, it is fundamental to think about the environment and to link it with Intellectual Property.
When thinking about innovating for a green future, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is thinking about the ozone layer, and all the environmental pollution around the world, which leads us to think of inventions as environmentally friendly vehicles, which, depending on their novelty and state of the art, can be protected in the field of Patents and New Technologies; or, we can think of all those products or services that are identified with the recycling or reusable symbol, allowing consumers to identify with those companies that are interested in taking care of the environment, through the type of product they manufacture or the service they provide, which then leads us to place ourselves in the field of Trademarks and Other Distinctive Signs.
What do you think now about that jewelry and bags made from recycled products (plastic, tin, paper, etc.)? Do you think it is not linked to Intellectual Property? Yes, it is! In the world of copyright, everything related to fashion and design can be protected, depending on the originality of your creation and, most importantly, on the way in which you materialize it.
Today recycling has become a sustainable business model, and this, together with fashion, has triggered everything that industry and the creative economy offer us, including job creation and cultural identity.
Thus, we cannot overlook certain ventures that have merged these two important aspects, a green future, through recycling to create, and Intellectual Property, through original creations, with which the individual expression of their author is manifested.
- Chureca Chic, “is an innovative line of luxury jewelry and stationery, which makes use of recycled materials to create exclusive international fashion products”. Each piece “is made entirely by hand and using recycled materials, primarily paper, by Nicaraguan women artists of limited resources.“ 1
- What we used to call garbage has become the raw material for several fashion and design businesses located in Managua. Rosibel Cruz, from Colecciones Valentina; María José Luna, from Mün Design Studio; and Rosana Castrillo, from Rociclaje; turn glass, plastic, metal or wood that we no longer use into a series of beautiful objects for the home. This trio of businesswomen ensures that recycling is imperative to preserve the environment. And also, a means to give style to our daily lives.2
Your creations are unique, and they can certainly innovate for a green future!
Lía Incer Flores
Senior Associate
García & Bodán
Nicaragua
[1] https://www.nicaraguadisena.com/chureca-chic/
2 https://confidencial.com.ni/el-reciclaje-como-modelo-de-negocio/