WHAT IS WIPO?

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is an international organization designed to promote the worldwide protection of both industrial property (inventions, trademarks, and designs) and copyrighted materials (literary, musical, photographic, and other artistic works). The organization, established by a convention signed in Stockholm in 1967, began operations in 1970 and became a specialized agency of the United Nations in December 1974. It is headquartered in Geneva. The origins of WIPO can be traced to 1883, when 14 countries signed the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which created intellectual-property protections for inventions, trademarks, and industrial designs. The convention helped inventors gain protection for their works outside their native countries. In 1886 the Berne Convention required member countries to provide automatic protection for works that were produced in other member countries. The two organizations, which had established separate secretariats to enforce their respective treaties, merged in 1893 to become the United International Bureau for the Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI), which was based in Bern, Switzerland. WIPO’s membership consists of more than 180 countries. Its main policy-making body is the General Assembly, which convenes every two years. WIPO also holds a biennial conference, which determines the organization’s budget and programs. More than 170 nongovernmental organizations maintain observer status.

FUNCTION OF WIPO:

WIPO’s activities include hosting forums to discuss and shape international IP rules and policies, providing global services that register and protect IP in different countries, resolving transboundary IP disputes, helping connect IP systems through uniform standards and infrastructure, and serving as a general reference database on all IP matters; this includes providing reports and statistics on the state of IP protection or innovation both globally and in specific countries. WIPO also works with governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and individuals to utilize IP for socioeconomic development.

WIPO administers 26 international treaties that concern a wide variety of intellectual property issues, ranging from the protection of audio-visual works to establishing international patent classification. It is governed by the General Assembly and the Coordination Committee, which together set policy and serve as the main decision-making bodies. The General Assembly also elects WIPO’s chief administrator, the Director General, currently Daren Tang of Singapore, who took office on 1 October 2020. WIPO is administered by a Secretariat that helps carry out its day-to-day activities.

WIPO’s activities include hosting forums to discuss and shape international IP rules and policies, providing global services that register and protect IP in different countries, resolving transboundary IP disputes, helping connect IP systems through uniform standards and infrastructure, and serving as a general reference database on all IP matters; this includes providing reports and statistics on the state of IP protection or innovation both globally and in specific countries. WIPO also works with governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and individuals to utilize IP for socioeconomic development.

WIPO administers 26 internationals treaties that concern a wide variety of intellectual property issues, ranging from the protection of audio-visual works to establishing international patent classification. It is governed by the General Assembly and the Coordination Committee, which together set policy and serve as the main decision-making bodies.

POLICY WORK OF WIPO:[iii]

1. Genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.
2. Global health.
3. Green technologies.
4. WIPO Judicial Institute.
5. WIPO Academy.
6. The Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights.

SOURCES:

[i] BRITANNICA, ://www.britannica.com/ (last visited Dec 1, 2021).

[ii] DEPARTMENT FOR PROMOTION OF INDUSTRY AND INTERNAL TRADE https://dpiit.gov.in/ (last visited Dec 1, 2021).

[iii] WIKIPEDIA, https://www.wikipedia.org/ (last visited Nov 7, 2021).

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

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We are also running a series Inspirational Women from January 2021 to March 31,2021, featuring around 1000 stories about Indian Women, who changed the world. #choosetochallenge