Unlocking Intellectual Property

The 2023 Presidential Task Force (PTF) report, Unlocking IP, addresses the question of how to disseminate factually correct and usable information about intellectual property (IP) to the mainstream media, given its pivotal role in informing the public.

The PTF sought to identify ways to effectively convey to the public at large the importance of intellectual property (IP) and how IP drives economic growth and innovation, transforms the way people live, raises their quality of life, and brings reliability and consistency to the products they buy. The PTF began its work with the perspective that the media is a critical channel through which the general public learn about IP but that the media would benefit from resources they can draw in their reporting of IP.

Today’s mainstream reporter is a generalist who moves from topic to topic relying on experts and available reference material to guide their coverage. The journalistic approach aims for accuracy but, without proper support, cannot help but lack nuance and context when it comes to specialized topics such as IP.

The Report is a first step towards creating accessible tools and information related to IP that the busy media professional can easily and quickly utilize. It offers guidance related to key IP concepts and terminology, as well as identifies information and data that can be used in reporting. In this way, the Task Force’s aim is to help facilitate a more collaborative and supportive relationship with journalists as they continue their important mission.

The efforts of the Task Force were threefold:

• Establish what IP resources already exist in a comprehensive discovery process of globally available assets;
• Conduct a four-jurisdiction consumer survey on brand issues, awareness, and behavior (400 respondents each in Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States); and
• Create a media toolkit that provides condensed and accessible information media stakeholders can use to inform their coverage.

The Media Toolkit includes a glossary of key terminology, a variety of examples of IP coverage with commentary, a list of resources currently available through INTA and IP offices from around the world, key takeaways from the consumer survey (the full results of which are included in the appendix), and messaging framework that explains and provides supporting evidence for ideas which are commonly held about IP.

In addition, the Report offers recommendations for how INTA can advance the goal of improved media understanding and outreach and provide wide-ranging opportunities for moving the dial forward on a better-informed media and general public.

The PTF is a compendium of source material, original data, and next steps to guide the media professional to facts and consultation on IP issues. It also functions as a road map for the Association to accomplish its goal of being a one-stop resource for anyone seeking to understand or explain IP and offers a way forward for how best to further cement itself in this role.

READ THE REPORT