Sustainable Development Goals and Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property (IP) is a critical incentive for innovation and creativity, which in turn are key to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) success.

Stories of how individual inventors, companies and other organizations find solutions to social, economic, health and environmental challenges are a powerful reminder of our collective capacity to achieve the SDGs and the role that IP rights play in this.

Share your SDG and IP stories

We invite member states to share information about the remarkable people who are helping to achieve the SDGs through their inventiveness, creativity and use of IP. Selected stories will be posted on this webpage. Guidelines PDF, SDG and IP stories, guidelines

Send us your submissions

SDG spotlight on national and regional initiatives

SDG spotlight on WIPO programs

WIPO programs contribute to the SDGs in various concrete ways ranging from the sharing of technical information and support for creating online marketplaces for the licensing of technology.

WIPO and the SDGs

A visual exploration of how WIPO and the SDGs are connected, and how IP can drive development and help tackle global challenges.

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(Photo: istockphoto.com/foxtrot101)

WIPO GREEN

WIPO GREEN contributes to the SDGs through an online marketplace for sustainable technologies.

(Photo: WIPO)

WIPO Re:Search

WIPO Re:Search contributes to the SDGs through encouraging the sharing of IP-protected health assets and know-how.

(Photo: WIPO)

ABC

WIPO's Accessible Books Consortium contributes to the SDGs through helping increase the number of books worldwide in accessible formats and making them available to the visually impaired.

(Photo: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/DIGITALSTORM)

WIPO Match

WIPO Match is a free online tool used to match seekers of specific IP-related development needs with potential providers offering resources.

(Photo: istockphoto.com/foxtrot101)

TISCs

WIPO’s Technology Innovation and Support Centers contribute to the SDGs by providing on-the-ground IP information and support to innovators where they need it most.

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(Photo: GETTY IMAGES/DRAFTER123)

Inventor Assistance Program

The Inventor Assistance Program (IAP) matches developing-country inventors with patent attorneys who give them free legal advice on patenting.

(Photo: WIPO)

IP and Tourism

This project demonstrates how IP tools and strategies can support the promotion of sustainable tourism, as well as economic, social and cultural development.

Innovation Economics Themes
(Photo: WIPO)

Innovation Gender Gap

Studying the gender gap in the IP system is a step towards fostering a more inclusive innovation landscape.