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Ideas matter.

Let's take the mystery out of IP.

CIPU is a nonpartisan nonprofit that helps audiences understand and explain how intellectual property rights drive new ideas, facilitate prosperity and impact lives.

Audiences include innovators, businesses, educators and more.

Awareness

Helping people recognize why intellectual property matters and why it plays an essential role in innovation, creativity, and economic growth.

Information

Making intellectual property understandable through educational resources, podcasts, reports, and public programs.

Community

Bringing together innovators, creators, policymakers, media, and partners to advance public understanding of IP.

Bridging the IP information gap. 

Patents, copyrights, and trademarks protect the uniqueness that underlies every invention, brand, and creative work. How they work remains a mystery, leaving many unable to distinguish the benefits they provide.

For a decade, CIPU has worked to bridge the IP information gap, translating intellectual property into clear, practical understanding for a range of audiences who benefit from them and the society it ultimately serves.

Featured Initiatives

Three flagship programs that bring intellectual property to life for creators, leaders, and the public.

two men and a lady at the IP Awareness Summit

ATTEND

IP Awareness Summit

Our annual flagship event convenes leaders from industry, technology, science, academia, finance, government and the creative arts.

CIPU podcast with Bruce Berman: innovation lightbulb puzzle
Understanding IP Matters logo

LISTEN

Understanding IP Matters

Candid conversations with the innovators, entrepreneurs, creators, and policymakers whose ideas shape our world.

Nike Sneakers

LEARN

IPBasics.org

Clear, jargon-free explanations of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets are the easiest place to start understanding IP.

A decade of impact and leadership

18,000

Understanding IP Matters downloads

1,500

IP Awareness Summit attendees

25,000

YouTube channel streams

35

Partners and affiliates

What people are saying about CIPU

“In a world where misinformation about patents and copyrights travels faster than the facts, CIPU’s work — building literacy from the ground up, convening serious conversations, and reaching non-IP audiences — is more relevant now than when it launched. The AI moment makes it more urgent still. Here’s to ten more years of cutting through the noise.”

Louis Carbonneau, Founder & CEO, Tangible IP; Former Senior Licensing Executive, Microsoft; Venture Partner, Cycle Capital Management; inventor

Partners & Affiliates

Research, podcasts, reports, and event recaps. The ideas and conversations advancing IP understanding.

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