World Intellectual Property (IP) Day takes place on the 26th of April every year, allowing us to reflect upon the importance of intellectual property in driving innovation and the future of technology.Each year, a relevant theme is chosen by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) as a focus for the celebrations that take place on World IP Day. This year, WIPO announced the theme as IP and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): building our common future with innovation and creativity.The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted internationally back in 2015, providing shared guidelines on peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. The United Nations states that the 17 SDGs are an urgent call for action by all countries globally. World IP Day 2024 presented the perfect opportunity to highlight the crucial role that IP plays in protecting the innovation and creation that drives us towards the achievement of the 17 SDGs, for the benefit of everyone.To celebrate, Mathys & Squire hosted a drinks reception in our Shard offices, which involved a fascinating panel discussion on green technology and IP with Martin Atkins (CEO and Co-Founder of Green Lizard Technology), Jim Shaikh (Head of the Greenhouse Climate Innovation start-up accelerator at Undaunted), Jordan Berkowitz (Head of Strategy for Biophilica) and Chris Hamer (Partner), moderated by Michael Stott (Partner). Our panellists discussed various topics related to the green technology sector, including the key challenges in protecting IP rights, effective strategies for commercialising innovations while ensuring sustainability and scalability, investment and partnerships, IP licensing agreements and emerging trends and technologies.We closed the evening with networking and IP-themed cocktails.Our team look forward to hosting another event next year!