Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation

Executive of the year (december 12, 2024) the foundation presents the executive of the year award to an executive within a company who is committed to the creation, promotion and protection of intellectual property. The winner is selected by the board of directors of the foundation. The 2024 award was given at an awards ceremony december 12 and includes a plaque and tribute video.

Pr campaign the board of directors approved hiring a pr firm in july 2024 to promote the value of intellectual property to the general public through digital and traditional media. As part of the partnership, the pr firm would promote messaging on social media, connect with traditional media, and create new resources that could teach the public about the value of ip. They launch a campaign titled "ip is everywhere" where they engaged a social media influencer to create videos at the annual awards celebration to highlight innovation and ip.

Ip education for next gen innovators toolkit the foundation created a free toolkit for volunteers to use in their communities to teach about intellectual property. In addition to engagement with ipo members and volunteers, the foundation connects with partners to present the content to students, primarily grades 6-12.

Why didn't i think of that? 2023-2024 "why didn't i think of that?" is a virtual invention competition for students. Students qualify if they have an original invention that they created at age 18 or younger and the invention has received intellectual property protection. Three winning inventions were selected by the board and public vote. Winners will work one-on-one with an industry professional to learn how to advance their invention, they will also receive recognition in a public communications campaign, and are invited to attend the awards celebration. The foundation hired a marketing company to execute the communications portion of the program.