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The primary function of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is to develop intellectual property systems (IPS). According to the website, “The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It 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. WIPO 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. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.”
The core business model and strategic direction of the WIPO is to promote a strong IP culture, to integrate IP into development policies, to develop international IP laws, to deliver quality services in global IP protection systems and to increase the use and efficiency of WIPO’s management and support processes.
WIPO is organized by committees, assemblies and other decision-making bodies and currently has 184 member states. These member states are primarily concerned with the administration of IP policy. According to the website, “Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs.”