26th April is ‘baptised’ as World Intellectual Property Day. In 2001 WIPO established this official date to "raise awareness of the role of intellectual property in our daily lives, and to celebrate the contribution made by innovators and artists to the development of societies across the globe". The date of April 26 was the chosen date based on the fact that this was the date on which the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization entered into force in 1970.
Following various discussions, such a day was proposed with the aim of
"[setting up] a framework for broader mobilization and awareness, [opening up] access to the promotional aspect of innovation and [recognizing] the achievements of promoters of intellectual property throughout the world."
On August 9, 1999, the Chinese delegation to the WIPO proposed the adoption of the "World Intellectual Property Day"
"in order to further promote the awareness of intellectual property protection, expand the influence of intellectual property protection across the world, urge countries to publicize and popularize intellectual property protection laws and regulations, enhance the public legal awareness of intellectual property rights, encourage invention-innovation activities in various countries and strengthen international exchange in the intellectual property field".
In October of the same year, the General Assembly of WIPO approved the idea of declaring a particular day as a World Intellectual Property Day.