IPO Education Foundation

2025–2026 Impact

To promote an understanding and respect of intellectual property and its value to society.

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2024-2026 Strategic Priorities

Educate

Educate the next generation about the role intellectual property plays in driving prosperity and enriching life in our communities.

Elevate

Elevate awareness of and appreciation for the role IP plays in driving innovation, prosperity, and welfare of all.

Find out how IPOEF made an impact!

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2025–2026 Highlights

300+

Awards Celebration Attendees

The December 16 Awards Celebration brought together IP professionals, govt. officials, and innovators to celebrate the 2025 honorees in Washington, DC

$85K+

Raised for Foundation Programs

Funds raised through Awards Celebration sponsorships and event donations to support the growth and expansion of programs

26K+

IP Questions Answered

IPOEF launched IP Buddy, a free, AI-powered educational tool to make IP education simple and accessible reaching users nationwide

2,500+

Students Reached by Volunteers

IPO members brought IP education to their communities using the IP Education for Next Gen Innovators Toolkit

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2025 RECAP


2025 Awards Celebration

The Annual Awards Celebration brings together the IP community to honor accomplishments in the field of IP and celebrate the innovation and creativity that drive progress. In December 2025, more than 300 attendees gathered at the JW Marriott gathered to celebrate the honorees, promote the value of the IP system, and raise over $50,000 to support IPOEF programs!

Learn more about the 2025 honorees below.

The 2026 event will take place on December 15, 2026 at the JW Marriott. Don't miss out on opportunity to celebrate the people and ideas advancing innovation, connect with the IP community, and support the Foundation's mission.

Click here to view 2025 event photos.

2025 Honorees

Executive of the Year

Commissioner of the WNBA, Cathy Engelbert, has played a pivotal role in advancing the importance of IP, particularly through her leadership bolstering the brand of the Women's National Basketball Association.

Inventor of the Year

Lee and Erin Hanson, Founders of Guardian, have made a significant impact to sport safety beginning with the Guardian Cap, a soft shell helmet used in the NFL. This invention marked the beginning of Guardian's innovation journey, expanding their product line to include PEARL lacrosse balls, the LOOP headband, Guardian Chinstrap, Guardian Infill, and more.

IP Champion

Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) have been strong bipartisan advocates for the value of intellectual property rights, working together to modernize and strengthen the U.S. IP system in support of American innovation.

2026 honorees to be announced late summer. Want to nominate someone making an impact? Contact foundation@ipo.org with a nomination.

Educating the Next Generation

IP Buddy

The New AI tool, IP Buddy, represents a bold step in expanding opportunities for engagement with the intellectual property system. By breaking down barriers to information, IPOEF empowers more creators, inventors, and entrepreneurs of all ages to protect and grow their ideas.

IP Made Easy

Launched in August 2025, IP Made Easy is a free, interactive tutorial that makes understanding intellectual property simple and accessible. Designed for teachers, students, and entrepreneurs alike, it uses real-life stories and relatable examples to help anyone learn how IP shapes everyday life and how to protect their ideas.

Toolkit

The "IP Education for Next Gen Innovators" toolkit gives IP professionals turnkey materials to teach students essential IP concepts. It complements STEM programs and can be tailored to different presentation lengths, student ages, and group sizes. The toolkit has continued to reach students through IPO members since its launch in Spring 2024.

IP Buddy: First-of-Its-Kind AI Tool

IPOEF launched IP Buddy, a first-of-its-kind AI-powered digital assistant designed to make understanding intellectual property more approachable, engaging, and accessible. Every day, we are surrounded by IP and therefore, IP Buddy is for everyone. From first-time inventors and growing startups to people who are simply curious about how IP works, this resource is here to guide users through patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets with clarity and confidence.

13K Sessions

In its first month alone

26K+ Questions

Answered by early 2026

7,500+ Sessions

Across all 50 states

16M+ Viewers

Reached via TV, radio, and web

"Without strong IP protection, the breakthroughs we rely on, from life-saving healthcare technologies to the devices that power our daily lives, simply wouldn't happen. IP Buddy is here to help people understand and engage with this vital system."

Henry Hadad, IPO Education Foundation President

IP Made Easy

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Why is IP Education Important?

In August 2025, IPOEF launched IP Made Easy, a free interactive tutorial that helps teachers, students, entrepreneurs, and first-time creators understand how to protect what they create. Christine Lawlor-King, invention and IP educator, and former teacher, attended the National Association of Science Teacher (NSTA) conference in Minneapolis in November 2025 and introduced science and STEM teachers from around the country to the new resource. IP Made Easy has also been shared with the innovation community broadly including tech transfer professionals at the AUTM Western Region Meeting and K-12 students and parents at the Invention Convention National Competition.

Christine Lawlor-King told educators,

"As a teacher, I used to be afraid of teaching intellectual property. I did not understand it myself, so I did not teach it — even though I was teaching invention and entrepreneurship, two subjects that truly need IP at their core. Once I started learning more, I discovered that IP is fun, engaging, and deeply relevant. I realized I was interacting with IP every day — and that my students would love it too. And I was right! IP is real-world knowledge, which makes students lean in. It brings out every student's gifts, because no matter who you are—an inventor, artist, poet, or athlete—you need to understand IP. The best part is, when I teach IP, I never hear the question, 'Why do we have to learn this?' Students see the value instantly."

IPO Members in Their Communities

The "IP Education for Next Gen Innovators" toolkit has continued to support IP professionals educating the next generation about the importance of IP since its 2024 launch. Check out IPO members connecting with students in their communities all over the world!

Johnson & Johnson, US and China

Michael Fuerch, Hayesville NC

Ruben Munoz and Gloria Fuentes, Philadelphia, PA

A Team Effort to Empower the Next Generation

Johnson & Johnson created an internal program within their IP department with the goal to reach students across the country with IP education, dividing into teams based on geographic location with a designated coordinator for each. Building on success of reaching over 1,000 students in 2024, the program continued its momentum in 2025, connecting with over 1,000 additional middle school, high school, and college students across the US and China. Find out more about how you can implement a similar program in your team here.

Elevating Awareness of the Value of IP

"IP is Everywhere" Campaign

IPOEF expanded its campaign to show how IP shapes sports, toys, entertainment, and everyday products. The Foundation highlighted IP at the Super Bowl, New York Toy Fair, Invention Convention, and the Awards Celebration.

IPOEF in the Media

The Foundation promoted IP Buddy promoted in a satellite media tour in Spring 2025 reaching over 16 million people.

The 2025 Inventors of the Year were featured in various media outlets reaching over 180 million people in all 50 states.

Social & Video Content

Foundation social and video content continued to broaden awareness of why IP matters. Content featured fun facts about IP pop culture as well as interviews with prominenet inventors like Tara Astigarraga and Dr. Stephen L. Hoffman.

"IP is Everywhere" Campaign

In 2025, the Foundation led a PR campaign focused on elevating awareness of the value of IP as a driver of innovation and demonstrating that IP is everywhere! IPOEF partner, Jeremiah Fennell, attended events such as the Awards Celebration, Super Bowl, and the New York Toy Fair to talk to brands, innovators, and the public about IP. At the Super Bowl, Jeremiah spoke to companies like Wilson, Franklin, and Guardian Sports who use IP to protect their innovations, from patents on lacing technology that helps kids learn to throw a football easier to one size fits all helmet covers that reduce impact during in-game collisions. At the Toy Fair, brands Mattel, Spin Master, Melissa & Doug and more spoke about the need to protect their innovations in order to continue to bring new ideas to the market while keeping the old magic of iconic toys alive for future generations.

IPOEF in the Media

IP Buddy

Interviews featuring Deputy Executive Director, Kristen Lurye, aired more than 762 times, on 760 TV stations, and had over 2,600 website placements, reaching over 16 million viewers.

Inventors of the Year

The 2025 Inventors of the Year were featured in various media outlets, reaching over 180 million people in all 50 states.

Social & Video Content

IPOEF leveraged social media to show the public how IP connects to their daily lives. Click the images below to see more!


Why It Matters

From public awareness campaigns to classroom-ready tools, IPOEF is making intellectual property more understandable, more accessible, and more relevant to innovators, educators, students, and communities.