Every year on April 26, the international community marks World Intellectual Property (IP) day. The celebration provides a great opportunity to think, reflect and discuss about issues relating to IP.

It is never an easy topic; apart from IP practitioners, many seem to avoid the subject of IP. For this reason, there are many misconceptions surrounding IP, such as the idea that IP deals mostly with legal issues or that different IP rights actually overlap with each other. 

In fact, IP is not only about law and legal affairs, and patents, copyrights, industrial designs, trademarks, brand, geographical indications and trade secrets are all forms of IP that are distinct from each other and in no way overlap. 

Arguably, out of the many misconceptions of IP, the gravest one is the belief that IP and IP policy operate in a vacuum. IP itself,...

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.