B.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIP0)

Establishment of WIPOis a landmark event in the history of promotion
and protection of intellectual property rights at global level. The convention
establishing the WIPO was signed at Stockholm on 14th July, 1967. The
WIPO has been designated as specialized body of United Nations and it also
acts as a complimentary body with WTO in so far as promotion and
protection of IPRs is concerned. The Head Quarter of WIPO is at Geneva.
(a) Objectives of WIPO
The objectives of WIPO can be summarized as under:
(i) To promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the
world through co-operation among states and where appropriate,
in collaborationwith any international organization;
(ii) To harmonise national intellectual property legislation and
procedures;
(iii) Provide services for international applications for
property rights; intellectual
(iv) Exchange information on intellectual property:
(v) Provide legal and technical
countries;
assistance to developing and other
 resolution of private intellectual property disputes:
(vi) Facilitate the
and
Marshal information technology as a tool for storing, accessing
(vii) property information.
and using valuable intellectual
(b) Functions of WIPO
following functions:
The WIPOthrough its appropriate organs has the facilitate
(i) to promote the development of measures designed tothroughout
the efficient protection of Intellectual property Rights
the world and to harmonise he national legislation in the field;
(ii) to perform the administrative tasks of the Paris Union, the
special unions established in relation with the union, and the
Berne Union;
(m) to encourage the conclusion of international agreement designed
to promote the protection of intellectual property;
(Iv) to offer its cooperation to states requesting legal technical
assistance in the field of intellectual property;
(v) to assemble and discriminate information
concerning the
protection of intellectual property, carry out and promote studies
in this field, and publish the results of such
(vi) to maintain services facilitating the
studies; and
Intellectual Property and wherever International Protection of
appropriate, provide for
registration in this field and the publication of the
data
concerning the registration ete.
(c) Membership of WIP0
Membership of WIPO is open to any state which is
Unions. Even if it is not a member of Union, a nation can member of any
of WIPO if it is a
member of United Nations or other become member
177 countries. specialized agencies.
The membership of WIPO has gone up to
(d) Organs of WIPO
WIPO performs its functions and
organs: programmes through following four
(i) General Assembly, consisting of the states party to the
convention establishing WIPO which are the members of the
Unions;
(ii) Conference, consisting of the states party to the Convention.
whether they are members or not of any of the Union:
(iii) Coordination Committee, consisting of the states party to the
Convention which are members of the Executive Committee of
the Paris Union, or of the Berne Union or both: and
(iv) International Bureau : It is the Secretariat of the
Organization. It shall be directed by the Director General.
2ssisted by two or more deputy Director-Generals, The Director
Coneral is the Chief Executive of the WIPOand he is appointed
 The DG
for a fixed term which is not less than six years.
conforms to the
represents the organization, reports to and and
instructions of the General Assembly as to the internal
four organs,
external affairs of Organization. Apart from these Academy
a World Wide for
recently the WIPO has establishedinformation
dissemination of IPR related and knowledge
throughout the world.
WIPO
(e) Programmes and activities of
provide'
The programmes of WIP0 are designed to is
(i) advice and expertise in the revision of national legislation
particularly important for those WIPO member States with
obligations under the TRIPs Agreement;
(ii) comprehensive education and training programmes at national
and regional levels for officials dealing with intellectual propérty,
including those concerned with enforcemnent and; for traditional
and new groups of users, on the value of intellectual property
and how to create their own economic assets through better use
of the intellectual property system;
(iii) extensive computerization assistance to help developing
countries acquire the information technology resources (both in
human and material terms) to streamline administrative
nanaging and administering their OWn
procedures for managing
intellectual property resources, and to participate in WIPO,
global information network;
(iv) financial assistance to facilitate participation in WIPO activities
and meetings, especially those concerned with the progressive
development of new international norms and practices.
Special Programmes
WIPO carries out a special programme to promote, in the developing
countries, the collective management of copyright, for the increased benefit
of creators such as authors, composers and artists. A special unit looks after
the concerns of the least-developed countries, which require special attention
and assistance so that they to0 can reap the benefits of intellectual property.
(f) Activities of WIPO
A fundamental and enduring part of WIPO's activities in promoting the
protection of intellectual property is the progressive development and
application of international norms and standards. The organization currently
administers 11 treaties that set out internationally agreed rights and
common standards for their protection that the States which sign them
agree to apply within their own territories.
(g) Development of E-Commerce
In September 1999, WIPO adopted the Digital agenda-a work
programme for the Organization over the coming-years in response to the
confluence of the internet digital technologies and the intellectual property
system. The Organization is formulating appropriate responses that wil
encourage dissemination and use of intellectual property such as music
films, trade identifiers and knowledge on the internet as well as ensure
protection of the rights of their creators and owners.
(h) WIPOWorldwide Academy'
WIPO believes that the human capital of developing countries is key to
their realizing the full benefits of the national and international intellectual
property system. The WIPO Worldwide Academy helps to develop th0s4
human resources, setting tip modem and tailor-made training programmes
for policy advisors, development managers and other target groups. Its
activities include :
(i) Programmes Evolution of new training and teaching techniques.
(ii) Distance Learning Centre using Internet facilities.
(ii) Client specific learning modules and materials.
(iv) Use of modern public-access media to disseminate knowledge of
intellectual property.
(i) Inter-relationship between WIPO and WTO (World Trade
Organization)
Agreement between WIPO and WIO (which came into existence on lst
January, 1995) has been entered into force on lst January, 1996 with a
purpose of creating a cooperative and conducive relationship. It inter ala
provides :
(i) accessibility of laws and regulations in the WIPO collection by
WTO members and their Nationals:
(iü) accessibility of the computerized database to WTO members and
their nationals; and
(iü) accessibility of Laws and Regulations in the WIPO
the WTO Secretariat and the collection by
Council for TRIPs ete.
Summary of the
Convention Establishing
the World Intellectual
Property Organization
(WIPOConvention)
(1967)
The WIPO Convention, the constituent
instrument of the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), was signed
at Stockholm on July 14, 1967, entered into
force in 1970 and was amended in 1979.
WIPO is an intergovernmental organization
that became in 1974 one of the specialized
agencies of the United Nations system of
organizations.

The origins of WIPO go back to 1883 and

1886 when the Paris Convention for the
Protection of Industrial Property and the
Berne Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works, respectively,
were concluded. Both Conventions provided
for the establishment of an "International
Bureau". The tWo bureaus were united in
1893 and, in 1970, were replaced by the
World Intellectual Property Organization, by
virtue of the WIPO Convention.
 WIPO'stwo main objectives are (i)to
promote the protection of intellectual
property worldwide; and (ii) to ensure
administrative cooperation among the
intellectual property Unions established by
the treaties that WIPO administers.

Inorder to attain these objectives, WIPO, in

addition to performing the administrative
tasks of the Unions, undertakes a number
of activities, including: (i) normative
activities, involving the settingof norms and
standards for the protection and
enforcement of intellectual property rights
through the conclusionof international
treaties; (i) program activities, involving
legal and technical assistance to States in
the field of intellectual property: (ii)
international classification and
standardization activities, involving
cooperation among industrial property
offices concerning patent, trademark and
industrialdesign documentation; and (iv)
registration and filing activities, involving
services related to international applications
for patents for inventions and for the
registration of marksand industrial designs.
Membership in WIPOisopen to any State
that isa member of any of the Unions and
to any other State satisfying one of the
following conditions: (i) it is a member of the
United Nations,any of the specialized
agencies brought into relationship with the
United Nations, or the International Atomic
Energy Agency: (ii) it is a party to the Statute
of the International Court of justice; or (iii) it
has been invited by the General Assembly of
WIPO to becomea party to the Convention.
There are noobligations arising from
membership of WIPO concerning other
treaties administered by WIPO. Accession to
WIPOis effected by means of the deposit
with the Director Generalof WIPO of an
instrument of accession to the WIPO
Convention.
The WIPO Convention establishes three
main organs: the WIPO General Assembly,
the WIPOConference and the WIPO
Coordination Committee.The WIPO General
Assembly is composed of the Member
States of WIPO which are also members of
any of the Unions. Its main functions are,
inter alia,the appointment of the Director
General upon nomination by the
Coordination Committee, review and
approvalof the reports of the Director
General and the reports and activities of the
Coordination Committee, adoption of the
biennialbudget common tothe Unions, and
adoption of the financial regulations of the
Organization.
The WIPO Conference is composed of the
States party to the WIPO Convention. It is,
inter alia, the competent body for adopting
amendments to the Convention. The WIPO
Coordination Committee is composed of
members elected from among the members
of the Executive Committee of the Paris
Union and the Executive Committee of the
Berne Union. Its main functionsare togive
advice to the organs of the Unions, the
General Assembly, the Conference, and to
the Director General, on alladministrative
and financial matters of interest to these
bodies. It also prepares the draft agenda of
theGeneral Assembly andthe draft agenda
of the Conference. Where appropriate, the
CoordinationCommittee nominatesa
candidate for the post of Director General
for appointment by the General Assembly.
The principal sources of income of WIPO's
regular budget are the fees paid by the
users of the international registration and
filingservices, and the contributions paid by
the governments of Member States. Each
State belongs to one of 14 classes, which
determines the amount of its contribution.
Class I, with the highest contribution,
involves the payment of 25 contribution
units, whereas Class Ster, with the lowest
contribution, involves the payment of 1/32
of one contribution unit. By virtue of the
unitary contributionsystem adopted by
Member States in 1993, the amount of each
State's contribution is the same whether
that State is a member only of WIPO, or only
of one or more Unions,or of both WIPO and
one or more Unions.

The Secretariat of the Organization is called

the International Bureau. The executive
head of the International Bureauis the
Director General who is appointed by the
WIPO General Assembly and is assisted by
two ormore Deputy Directors General.
The headquarters of the Organization are in
Geneva, Switzerland. The Organization 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).
The Organization benefits from the
privileges and immunities granted to
international organizations and their
officials in the fulfillment of its objectives
and exercise of its functions, and has
concluded aheadquarters agreement with
the Swiss Confederation to that effect.