The UN has designated April 21 as “World Creativity and Innovation Day”. It has been established as a day of observance to encourage the use of creativity and innovation as a primary tool in problem solving regarding “all aspects of human development”.

The main goal of this of this day is to encourage both individuals and countries alike to utilise a holistic and creative-centric approach in their efforts to tackle sustainability and human development issues. The UN explained that creativity is important as it “can provide solutions to some of the most pressing problems such as poverty eradication and the elimination of hunger.”

Take a look at the following innovations which are paving the way for the future, with creativity at the forefront of their solutions:

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Paving the way for a more inclusive Industry 4.0 (part 2)

“We must put the principle of equality into action so that science works for women, because it works against them all too often – for example, when algorithms perpetuate the biases of their programmers.”  More…

Paving the way for a more inclusive Industry 4.0

There is a significant gender gap that continues to exist in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields around the world. Even though we are seeing an increase in women pursuing these fields at a higher education level, they are still underrepresented post-graduation. With an aim to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, the United Nations General Assembly declared 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in 2015. More…

What’s new in the IPC 2022.01?

The new version of the IPC 2022.01 is now live! You will be able to include the new patent classification codes that came into force on the 1^st of January in your comprehensive searches in PatBase as they start being assigned. More…

Bioinformatics & Digital Health patents: A rapidly changing landscape

A recent study by IP firm Mewburn Ellis found the number of patents and applications published within the bioinformatics and digital health sectors has risen significantly over the last 10 years. This surge in computer-assisted healthcare IP protection, particularly in the US and China, suggests organisations need to adapt their IP strategies and ensure their inventions are protected within this rapidly evolving patent landscape.

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The real-world effect of diversity of inventors in Biomedicine

Over the years studies have shown that more patents are awarded to men than women. Although the gender gap is narrowing it has been reported that only 16.2% of biomedical patents are held by women. Some studies on this topic claim that health and medicine-related innovations more often address men’s health and our society could be missing out on important medications, devices, and technologies that could benefit women’s health. Recent studies highlight the importance of diversity of inventors and the impact this has on the development of diverse innovative solutions that would benefit society as a whole.

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In a bid to make video games more inclusive to people with disabilities, Electronic Arts (EA) has announced a Patent Pledge. The Pledge will give competitors and developers free access to its accessibility-related patents and technology without fear of being sued for infringement. Around 15% of the global population have a disability, making this decision by EA a welcome move to make video games more accessible to all.

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In the nineties, the Brazilian Supreme Court introduced a minimum protection period for patents – the sole paragraph of Article 40.

Article 40. A utility patent will have a term of 20 (twenty) years and a utility model patent term of 15 (fifteen) years, counted from the filing date.

Sole. The term will not be less than 10 (ten) years for utility patents and 7 (seven) years for utility model patents, counted from grant, except when the BRPTO is barred from proceeding with the substantive examination of the application, due to proven pending judicial decision or for reasons of “force majeure”.

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