Our Brain is Our Property
Pledge on Empowering Young People to Embrace and Understand the Role of Intellectual Property and to Benefit from It, Individually and Collectively
“My brain is my property” might be one of the key conclusions of the initiative called Your Property, implemented by PONT Group, an organization specialized in social innovation and based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
It is often said, that “knowledge is power”. Although, unsaid, knowledge is also wealth. In today’s knowledge-based economy, intellectual property is often the single most important asset of an organisation, an enterprise or an individual.
PONT Group launches a pledge for a medium-term effort on raising awareness about the role of intellectual property in the everyday life of young people and youth organisations.
We believe in the following principles:
- Young people should understand that one of the key assets in their lives is their own intellectual capacity, creativity. The results of this creativity and intellectual capacity should be recognised and protected as any other asset.
- It should be a constant concern for professional organisations, experts and their networks assisting and helping young people and their organisations to protect their intellectual property. Young people are more vulnerable to any professional exploitation, and due to their age, they lack the proper experience or knowledge to protect their IP by themselves.
- Access to knowledge regarding the role of intellectual property and ways to protect it shall be available for any young person in Europe. This should also be considered when providing quality education for young people.
- Access to the protection of intellectual property for young people and their organisations and enterprises should be enhanced through lower fees provided by IP protection institutions at national and European level.
- Owning the outputs of their intellectual activity also means that young people have a right to decide when or how to share, or how to transform the individual asset into a common asset.
- Young people shall witness a smooth transition from education to quality jobs. Protecting the intellectual property of young people can be a vital part of policies and measures that ensure decent conditions for young people on the labour market.
- It is very important to work with young people and youth organisations in understanding how intellectual property can lead to better employment and a better quality of life for young people all around Europe.
- The protection of youth organisations’ intellectual property is a key element for the long-term sustainability of the youth civil society, especially in the specific context of the fact that members of these organisations change in an accelerated pace compared to other organisations.
PONT Group seeks the help of young people, experts, youth organisations and other stakeholders in promoting these principles.
Launched at Cluj-Napoca on 28 February 2017.
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