The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Originally established by the WIPO Convention in 1967, it now has 193 member states, with the United States being one of them. Without further ado, please read on to discover the roles and responsibilities of the WIPO and how a seasoned Essex County, New Jersey intellectual property lawyer at The Ingber Law Firm can help you understand how this affects you as an author or creator in this country and on a global scale.
What are the roles and responsibilities of the WIPO?
Put in the simplest terms, the WIPO is a global policy forum in which governments, intergovernmental organizations, industry groups, and civil society join forces to promote an effective international intellectual property system that should benefit all authors and creators. More specifically, the standing committees and working groups negotiate modified and new intellectual property rules that align with the wants and needs of authors and creators in the modern world. Of note, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) typically represents our government in these circles to make sure our country’s policies are seen in these international laws and systems.
What types of treaties does the WIPO impose?
You should note that the WIPO does not necessarily impose international laws but rather administers treaties that set standards for its 193 member states and ensure their cooperation. Some notable treaties are as follows:
- The Paris Convention: this treaty ensures that nationals of member countries receive the same treatment for patent, trademark, and industrial design protection as domestic individuals and companies in other member countries.
- The Berne Convention: this treaty ensures that copyright works created by authors in one member country are protected in all other member countries, and that such protection arises upon creation of a work, without first requiring formal registration.
- The Madrid System: this treaty ensures that there is a streamlined mechanism for international trademark registration, in which there is no need for an author to make separate applications for their intellectual property in each jurisdiction.
- The Hague Agreement: this treaty ensures that there is a centralized system for international industrial design registration, in which an author can submit a single international application that can apply protection over their intellectual property in several member countries.
We can sympathize with how daunting this whole concept may be for you, especially as a new author or creator who has only just recently entered the intellectual property space. Well, lucky for you, the team at The Ingber Law Firm has successfully gone through the WIPO’s impact countless times before. So please, retain the services of a competent Essex County, New Jersey intellectual property lawyer today.