Established in 1967, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation. It currently has 193 member States and provides a platform for governments, intergovernmental organizations, industry groups, and civil society to address IP issues. The twofold objectives of WIPO are to promote the protection of intellectual property worldwide and to ensure administrative cooperation between intellectual property unions established by virtue of the treaties administered by WIPO. To this end, it manages more than 20 intellectual property treaties and has signed a cooperation agreement with the World Trade Organization.
Additionally, it helps to resolve disputes over the use of Internet domain names. The history of WIPO dates back to 1883 when 14 countries signed the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. This created intellectual property protections for inventions, trademarks and industrial designs. In 1960, BIRPI (United International Office for the Protection of Intellectual Property) moved its headquarters to Geneva. In 1970, it was replaced by WIPO under the WIPO Convention which was signed in Stockholm on July 14, 1967 and entered into force in 1970. The organization enjoys privileges and immunities granted to international organizations and their officials in the performance of their objectives and in the exercise of their functions.
It has concluded a headquarters agreement with the Swiss Confederation to this effect. It also has liaison offices in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), Japan (Tokyo), Singapore (Singapore) and the United States of America (at the United Nations in New York).WIPO's main functions are to advise the organs of the Unions, the General Assembly, the Conference and the Director General on all administrative and financial matters of interest to these bodies. It also appoints the Director General on the proposal of the Coordination Committee, examines and approves reports from the Director General and Coordination Committee, approves common biennial budgets of Unions and approves financial regulations of the Organization. Intellectual property (IP) is a term used to describe creations of the mind such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs and symbols, names and images used in commerce. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an intergovernmental organization that became one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations system of organizations in 1974.
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