Toy Association Joins Global Business Community in Celebrating World IP Day

Aaron Muderick, president of Crazy Aaron’s, Supports IP Day & Offers Advice to SMEs

April 26, 2021 | The Toy Association and its members join the global business community today in celebrating (April 26), which shines a light on the critical role of small-and medium-sized enterprises in the economy and how they can use intellectual property (IP) rights to build stronger, more competitive, and resilient businesses.

“Creativity and innovation are essential to the toy industry. The hard work, creative brilliance, and perseverance of toy inventors, designers, startups, and companies of all sizes are behind every meaningful play experience, helping countless millions of children around the globe learn new skills and build family memories through play every day,” stated Steve Pasierb, president & CEO of The Toy Association. “The Toy Association is proud to support World IP Day as we continue our work to help all across the toy, games and play community navigate IP challenges; protect and leverage their IP for growth; advocate for IP protection on Capitol Hill; and drive innovation through our repository of webinars, research, white papers, and educational tools.”

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), SMEs account for 90 percent of all companies worldwide and 70 percent of global employment, which is why the theme of World IP Day 2021 is “IP and SMEs: Taking Your Ideas to Market.”

Aaron Muderick, president of Crazy Aaron’s and inventor of Thinking Putty®, which brought bouncing putty into the 21st century thanks to magnetic, UV light-reactive, heat-sensitive, crystal-clear, glow-in-the-dark, and color-shifting varieties, participated in a conversational video interview for World IP Day with the A-CAPP Center at Michigan State University to share some of the most challenging aspects of protecting his company’s intellectual property.

When asked what advice he would offer SMEs, Muderick underscored the importance of “striking a balance” between protecting your brand and allocating enough resources to bring it to market.

“Make sure you don’t focus resources on your brand protection that actually prevent you from getting to market with a commercial product that you can sell that has the potential to be a success,” said Muderick. “Find your balance based on the resources you have, so that you can protect your brand as much as you can afford, while still getting something out there. Because ultimately, it can be the greatest idea in the world and it can be 100% protected, but if consumers don’t find it compelling and want to buy it, it doesn’t matter.”

The international IP community is marking World IP Day through a series of virtual activities and an active social media campaign. Questions about The Toy Association’s IP protection efforts and advocacy may be directed to Leigh Moyers, senior manager of federal government affairs.