World IP Day: Celebrating Movies

World intellectual Property day is observed annually on 26th April. This event by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) was organised in 2000 to “raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life” and “to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies across the globe”.

WIPO, Geneva manage this event through the social media channels, to have a strong interaction with common masses. Each year a message or a theme is associated. The theme for 2014 is “Movies a Global Passion”.

The theme selected is a better fit for India, given that The National Film Archive of India celebrated 100 years of Indian Cinema. In 100 years, the film industry in India has progressed in leaps and bounds. Bollywood is one of the most advanced and leading Film Industries in the world today.

Raja Harishchandra (translation: King Harishchandra) was the first full-length Indian movie, released in 1913, as the silent Indian film, directed and produced by Indian icon (now known as “Father of Indian Cinema“) Dadasaheb Phalke. The story of the film was based on the legend of King Harishchandra, recounted in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. This film truly marked a historic benchmark in the film industry in India.  It was a great commercial success and paved the way for more such films, leading us to highly advanced and amazing 21st century Bollywood film industry of today.

This year theme would help lifting the movies in the world, their role in a society and their impact on development in a country.

Happy 100th Anniversary of Indian Cinema and A Happy World IP day!

Themes for last 13 years for celebrating this day were:

• 2001 : Creating the Future Today.
• 2002 : Encouraging Creativity.
• 2003 : Make Intellectual Property Your Business.
• 2004 : Encouraging Creativity.
• 2005 : Think, Imagine, Create.
• 2006 : It Starts With An Idea.
• 2007 : Encouraging Creativity.
• 2008 : Celebrating innovation and promoting respect for intellectual property.
• 2009 : Green Innovation.
• 2010 : Innovation – Linking the World.
• 2011 : Designing the Future.
• 2012 : Visionary Innovators.
• 2013 : Creativity – The Next Generation
• 2014 : Movies – A Global Passion

By Akshatha Karthik.

Photo by Meena Kadri, available here, CC By 2.0