CELEBRATE WORLD IP DAY BY TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATION
April 26 is World IP Day! World IP Day aims to increase awareness and understanding of IP and the role it plays in innovation. This year’s theme, “IP and Music: Feel the Beat of IP”, focuses on how IP rights allow creativity and innovation to shine to create a diverse music scene that benefits all. IPOEF wants to help YOU celebrate World IP Day by teaching IP to the next generation of innovators and creators.
The Educate Committee has developed new, turnkey materials to teach grades 6-12 about IP in the music industry. Let students experience IP in action by guiding them through interactive scenarios and fun games – teach students about IP concepts essential to starting a band and test their musical trademark knowledge with a guessing game. Let IPOEF know if you’re interested in receiving the materials. Don’t forget the original “IP Education for Next Gen Innovators” toolkit covering IP fundamentals is also available for download at IPOEF.org. You can connect with students any time of year! For questions, contact foundation@ipo.org.
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ARE EM DASHES A SIGN OF WRITING PRODUCED BY AI?
This question is being debated on social media—emotionally—by professors, journalists, and other word nerds. Last week it was covered by The Washington Post.
An em dash is a punctuation mark that’s longer than a hyphen—as wide as a capital M. It’s an alternative to commas, parentheses, and colons—for adding emphasis or flair or causing the reader to pause.
Some writers are convinced that generative AI tools such as ChatGPT favor em dashes, which might cause editors to suspect that human writing with em dashes is AI-generated. Others haven’t seen a problem. A representative of OpenAI told the Post, “it’s possible,” but the firm is continuing to improve ChatGPT’s writing ability.
The Curmudgeon’s take: Em dashes are still standard, educated English and appropriate for IP documents such as briefs and memos. To avoid clutter, use em dashes sparingly—and no more than two in one sentence.
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