Every year on 26 April, World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated and the discussion on the role of intellectual property in popularizing innovation and creativity is promoted.

On 26 April 1970, the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) entered into force. On this occasion, governments and organizations around the world, together with WIPO, mark this date as World Intellectual Property Day. As a member of WIPO, the Republic of Bulgaria traditionally joins the international celebration every year.

For six years (2013 – 2018) ULSIT has established a tradition of organizing two-day seminars dedicated to World Intellectual Property Day (26 April). Characteristic of these seminars is that they comply every year with a slogan announced by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and their holding is marked by the publication annually of a scientific collection on intellectual property issues, which is reviewed by two specialists actively working in the field of intellectual property. The titles of the collections are always in accordance with the topic under which the seminar was held.

The participants in the seminars and authors of the collections are leading university professors, researchers, PhD students and lawyers working in the field of intellectual property and law.

The scientific products published in the last five years in the form of collective works serve as teaching aids in the training of intellectual property and a number of other disciplines related to the legal competence of non-specialists in the humanities and information sciences and are available in public libraries.

ULSIT is among the leading universities in the country, appreciating the role and importance of intellectual property as a stimulator of innovative development in the creative and information industries, which pursues a consistent policy for the dissemination of knowledge and information on intellectual property issues. In this activity ULSIT cooperates with a number of institutions engaged in the management of intellectual property, both nationally and internationally, including – the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Institute for Intellectual Property and Leadership, “Law and Internet” Foundation, IP Bulgaria – The National Portal for Intellectual Property, IUSAUTHOR Intellectual Property Law Office, Association “Network of IP Teachers in Bulgaria”, Faculty of Law and History of SWU “Neofit Rilski”, Department of Creative Industries and Intellectual Property at the University of National and World Economy, World Intellectual Property Organization, European Network of Teachers of Intellectual Property, etc.

The seminar – a product of the University Youth Knowledge Academy (UNYKA) has been included in the calendar of celebrations of the World Intellectual Property Organization for five years, and is visible through its interactive map. The posters, covers and film documentation of the seminars are the work of Assist. Prof. Kamelia Planska, who is a full-time PhD student and a member of the Academy at ULSIT.

The seminars dedicated to the World Intellectual Property Day at ULSIT have become a fulcrum for positive thinking, solidarity and cooperation, a place for sharing ideas, for meetings of like-minded people, for conversations between artists, for whom this forum is another step in understanding and active work in the field of intellectual property in the academic community.