World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

• The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was established in 1970,The Organization became a specialized agency of the United Nations in 1974.
• Headquarter: Geneva in Switzerland.
• The Director General is Francis Gurry.
• WIPO counts 184 Member States – more than 90 percent of the world’s countries.
• WIPO is dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual property (IP) system, which rewards creativity, stimulates innovation and contributes to economic development while safeguarding the public interest.

What is intellectual property?

• Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind.
• It is divided into two categories:

1. Industrial property includes patents for inventions, trademarks, industrial designs, integrated circuits and geographical indications.
2. Copyright and related rights cover literary and artistic expressions (e.g. novels, poems, plays, films, music, artistic works and architecture), and the rights of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and broadcasters in their radio and television broadcasts.

intellectual property rights

• Intellectual property rights allow the creators – or owners of patents, trademarks or copyrighted works – to benefit from their own work or investment in a creation.
• These rights are outlined in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provides for the right to benefit from the protection of moral and material interests resulting from authorship of any scientific, literary or artistic work.