IP Is Everywhere

Even a 12-year-old can speak authoritatively about the importance of IP. Jeremiah Fennell does.

The reporter/influencer/sports broadcaster—best known on social media as Jeremiah One-And-Five—has captivated hearts across the country with his charismatic interviews and passion for storytelling. He recently joined with the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation (IPOEF) to promote the importance of IP via its IP Is Everywhere campaign, including through his personal experiences.

“At first, I didn’t even know what IP meant,” Jeremiah said. “But now I see it’s in everything I love—football, sneakers, video games, and even the way I share my videos.

“I have built my own brand, and I want kids my age and others to know that we are surrounded by IP and that we can all be innovators!”

Jeremiah has joined IPOEF and Big Voice Communications at a range of high-profile events, including the Super Bowl, where he helped connect sports fans with the innovation and IP behind gear from brands such as Guardian Caps, Franklin Sports and Riddell.

He most recently appeared with IPOEF officials at the Invention Convention’s U.S. Nationals, where student inventors from across the United States showcased original ideas ranging from sustainable packaging to smart devices. IP is Everywhere emphasized that protecting these ideas through IP rights is a crucial part of turning a concept into a real-world success.

At the New York Toy Fair, Jeremiah explored the connections between beloved toys and the patents and trademarks that protect them. The event highlighted the importance of safeguarding creative concepts as Jeremiah engaged with brands including Mattel, Melissa & Doug, Spin Master and Wild Republic.

Examples everywhere

It doesn’t matter how young or old you are. Those sneakers you love, your favorite apps to tap, your go-to food or drink, your favorite music to stream, the car you drive—they’re all examples of how IP Is Everywhere via branding, logos, patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.

The campaign is central to IPOEF’s educational initiative aimed at raising awareness about the crucial role of IP in our lives. IP Is Everywhere seeks to highlight how IP drives innovation and creativity across sectors ranging from technology and entertainment to health care and agriculture.

“IPOEF is expanding opportunities for engagement with the intellectual property system,” said Kristen Lurye, deputy executive director for IPOEF. “By breaking down barriers to information, we empower more creators, inventors and entrepreneurs of all ages to protect and grow their ideas.

“Intellectual property rights are the foundation of innovation. They provide innovators with the ability to protect their creations, generate funding and collaborate effectively with others.”

IP Is Everywhere has reached over 16 million people through media outreach. It invites people of all backgrounds to see intellectual property not as a complicated legal framework but as a tool for empowerment, creativity and progress.

“We wanted to show that IP isn’t just for lawyers or big companies. It’s for everyone,” said Natalie Judd, principal at Big Voice Communications, the PR agency that developed the IP Is Everywhere campaign. “From the toys we played with as kids to the apps we use every day, IP shapes our lives.”

Yet even as the impact of IP grows in the public eye—from rock stars selling their publishing rights for hundreds of millions of dollars to well-publicized lawsuits claiming theft of IP—understanding intellectual property still has an intimidation factor for many. The urgent need for better education about IP is underscored by a United States Intellectual Property Alliance survey, revealing that 70 percent of Americans are unable to distinguish between the forms of IP (patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets).

“Many people might not know about intellectual property, or they think it doesn’t apply to them,” Lurye said. “IP is the heart of innovation for big companies, small businesses and individuals.”

As part of the IP Is Everywhere education campaign, IPOEF set out to demystify IP and make it more fun with its own creative tool—a world first that is poised to change how IP information is accessed and understood.

IP Buddy phenomenon

The launch of IP Buddy (June 2025 Inventors Digest cover story; inventorsdigest.com) continues to shatter the notion that IP is abstract or obtuse. With this free, first-of-its-kind service, AI-powered digital assistants can provide accurate, detailed, contextual answers to IP questions in real-time for everyone from middle-school students to entrepreneurs to teachers—whose role in educating about IP is core to the effort.

Featuring engaging avatars and helpful resources, IP Buddy turns what might seem like dense legal jargon into an approachable conversation.

At the Yale Innovation Summit in New Haven, Connecticut and Invention Convention in Dearborn, Michigan, emerging innovators, parents, educators and other leaders in innovation told IPOEF about the specific ways IP Buddy will help them.

“Without strong IP protection, the breakthroughs we rely on—from life-saving health care technologies to the devices that power our daily lives—simply wouldn’t happen,” said Henry Hadad, president of the IPOEF board. “IP Buddy is here to help people understand and engage with this vital system.”

Parents at the Invention Convention said the program will help them learn so they can guide their child. A medical student at Yale said her laboratory was ready to launch a project and she was working with attorneys, but was excited about IP Buddy to help her better ask questions and understand what she was learning from them.

Asked about the importance of IP, many young people interviewed by IPOEF use words such as “empowerment. Validity. Rewards.” It’s a proven direction for protection.

“I actually was awarded a full utility patent through the Invention Convention U.S. Nationals,” said Merra Ramaswami. “I knew patenting was an important way to protect my own intellectual property, and this was something that I really wanted to help people. I didn’t want my idea stolen.”

IP is motivation for young students who might otherwise be frustrated or worried about their future.

Intellectual property protection rewards creativity, which is not usually associated with getting high marks in math, spelling, English, geography or history. But ideas can be a ticket to the future. IP helps protect those ideas and futures.

Educating the educators

IPOEF is frequently told by parents and teachers that teachers must become more educated about IP to help students’ ideas gain tangible value.

IPOEF provides free resources for students, teachers and those who are curious to learn about intellectual property—from podcasts to videos to classroom activities. It will launch a new digital resource this summer for teachers and non-IP professionals to bring IP to their communities.

Said Lurye: “Whether you’re participating in a STEM program, invention competition, or you’re tinkering in your garage on the next big idea, there is an opportunity to learn about how to protect your hard work through IP rights, and IPOEF wants to help.”  

IP Is Everywhere—and it should be known to everyone.

The nonprofit Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation is “devoted to educational and charitable activities designed to teach and promote an understanding for the value of intellectual property rights and encourage innovation.” To learn more, visit www.ipoef.org.