Day 93: World Intellectual Property Day

President Joe Biden celebrated small businesses and World Intellectual Property Day today from the White House, issuing a proclamation recognizing, “the innovators and creators who enrich our lives and create the products, services, companies, and industries of tomorrow.”

Small businesses, he said, are the “heart and soul of our communities and the engines of our economic progress” and make up 90 percent of the of American businesses, two-thirds of new jobs and employ nearly half of the private sector.

“Inventions born in the garages of small towns can have just as much impact as those developed in high-tech labs… Every small business starts with one person’s or one family’s dream. When that dream is coupled with grit and determination, ideas turn into products, brands, and creative works. Pair those ideas with the strength of our intellectual property system and you have the foundation necessary for new business opportunities, increased employment, and greater economic prosperity.”

Biden again emphasized the value of infrastructure, this time, a digital one to protect small businesses’ trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets.

“We are proud to be a Nation of inventors and my Administration is committed to bolstering American industrial and innovative strength so we can continue to lead in making the cutting-edge products and services of tomorrow,” Biden said, noting the support needed for creatives who have had to pivot to digital content during the pandemic and the 75th anniversary of the Lanham Act, “the Nation’s fundamental trademark law,” this year.