The World Intellectual Property Organization leads the development of a balanced and effective global intellectual property ecosystem to promote innovation and creativity for a better and more sustainable future.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) serves the world’s inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs, ensuring that their ideas travel safely to the market. It does so by providing services that enable them to protect and promote their intellectual property (IP) and by acting as a forum for addressing cutting-edge IP issues. The increasing importance of IP is seen by the growth in IP filings. More than 23 million IP applications were filed in 2022 – more than 40 every minute, and nearly three times the number of 15 years ago.
There has also been broader participation in the IP system globally. Asia continues its rise as a dynamic region for innovation and creativity, now accounting for around two-thirds of global IP filings. Beyond Asia, other innovative and creative communities are emerging in all other regions of the world.
WIPO provides global IP services to help innovators and businesses protect their creations across multiple countries efficiently. Its key services include the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) for international patent applications, the Madrid System for trademark registration and the Hague System for industrial designs. These services make it easier, more affordable and more efficient to secure IP rights in multiple jurisdictions. And when IP-related conflicts arise, WIPO offers alternative dispute resolution through its Arbitration and Mediation Center, which helps keep matters outside of traditional court processes which can be costly and lengthy.
WIPO also brings together its 193 member states to discuss IP norm-setting to develop and refine international IP frameworks.
At the intersection of AI and IP, for example, WIPO is exploring how existing IP frameworks apply to AI-generated content and the broader implications of AI on IP rights. It has launched global consultations on IP and AI to gather stakeholder input on issues such as authorship, ownership and inventorship in AI-generated works.
WIPO prioritizes impact-driven capacity building to support all countries in leveraging IP for economic growth, innovation and sustainable development. Through targeted programs, WIPO helps these countries strengthen their IP systems, policies and institutions. Additionally, WIPO works with governments, universities and industry stakeholders to create innovation ecosystems that drive entrepreneurship and competitiveness.
“Having more people with good ideas that can change people’s lives can only be good for the world, and we need to step up our work to help innovators and creators everywhere use IP to bring their ideas to the market,” says WIPO Director General Daren Tang.
To meet the promise and challenges of the future, it is no longer tenable to look at IP only from a technical and legal perspective and as a matter of concern for IP professionals and experts alone. Going forward, IP must be seen more broadly as a powerful tool for meeting collective global challenges, for growth and development and as a matter of everyday interest to everyone, everywhere.
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