For World Intellectual Property (IP) Day, we celebrate the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity, and courage of New Zealand start-up founders who are making bold moves and shaping our common future.

In line with this year’s theme of “IP and Youth, innovating for a better future”, we’ve interviewed 3 innovative start-up founders to hear how they dreamed up their idea, owned it with IP strategies, and took it to the world. This free series starts 11 May and is online.

Their stories come from a range of industries. Each starts a different way: looking for non-alcoholic drinks over a BBQ with friends; searching for medical solutions to illness in the family; and seeking new building construction methods with far less waste and greater adaptability.

These talks will be available on the MBIE YouTube channel:

• On Wednesday, 11 May, Cynthia Hunefeld discusses the journey that led to her founding of Evithé Biotechnology.
  Evithé Biotechnology website
• On Sunday, 5 June, Joe Harawira narrates his experiences with the beverage industry as co-founder of 3 Māori Boys Ltd, creators of Wai Mānuka.
  3 Māori Boys — Wai Mānuka website
• On Sunday, 3 July, Ged Finch shares the inspiration and technology that resulted in the founding of XFrame.
  XFrame website

Can’t wait for 11 May? You can also hear from a panel of young tech innovators over lunch from 12:00pm to 1:00pm on 4 May:

• Olivia Ogilvie, who is working on cellular agriculture and synthetic meats;
• Ben Scales and William Murrell, of KiwiFibre Innovations;
• Megan Girdwood, who is working on renewal energy resources.

This virtual panel is organised by New Zealand Intellectual Property Attorneys Inc (NZIPA). For details and registration for this event please visit the NZIPA’s event post on LinkedIn.