World Intellectual Property Organization:
The “World Intellectual Property Organization” is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN), Pursuant to the 1967 Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization. World Intellectual Property Organization was created to promote and protect intellectual property (IP) across the world by cooperating with countries as well as international organizations. It began operations on 26 April 1970 when the convention entered into force. The current Director-General is Singaporean Daren Tang, former head of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, who began his term on 1 October 2020.
Activities of the World Intellectual Property Organization 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.
Read More: https://youthdiplomacyforum.com/2022/04/05/undp/
Background:
The World Intellectual Property Organization was established by the WIPO Convention in 1967 with a mandate from its Member States to promote the protection of IP throughout the world through cooperation among states and in collaboration with other international organizations. The earliest records relating to Intellectual Property date back to the 6th century BCE, from Sybaris in Ancient Greece. It supposedly granted a yearlong exclusivity for bakers to make their culinary inventions. In a manner of speaking, the rise of Intellectual Property originated from the rising of bread. The Convention establishing the world intellectual property organization (WIPO) comes into force and BIRPI is thus transformed to become WIPO. The newly established WIPO is a member state-led, intergovernmental organization, with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
WIPO Convention:
The World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) constituent instrument, the WIPO Convention, was signed in Stockholm on July 14, 1967, entered into force in 1970 and was revised in 1979. WIPO is an intergovernmental organization that was established in 1974 as one of the United Nations’ specialized agencies.
The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works both called for the establishment of an “International Bureau” in 1883 and 1886, respectively. The two agencies merged in 1893, and the World Intellectual Property Organization took over in 1970 as a result of the WIPO Convention.
Read More: https://www.wipo.int/portal/en/index.html
Convention establishing the WIPO:
It was signed in Stockholm on July 14, 1967, and amended on September 28, 1979. It has 21 Articles about the establishment of the organization, definitions, objectives, functions, membership, general assembly, conference, coordination committee, International Bureau, Head Quarters, Finances, legal capacity, relations with other organizations, becoming a party to the convention, Entry into force of the convention, reservations, amendments, denunciations, notifications, final provisions, and transitional provisions.
Importance
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is an international organization designed to promote the worldwide protection of both industrial properties (inventions, trademarks, and designs) and copyrighted materials (literary, musical, photographic, and other artistic works). The mission of WIPO is to develop a balanced and accessible international intellectual property (IP) system, that rewards creativity, stimulates innovation, and contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest.
Reported by Ms. Farzana Amin, a student of International Relations at the National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad. She is a member and part of the YDF media team. she is currently pursuing her Master’s in IR.
