World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an international agency that works to protect legal rights in artistic and literary works, inventions, trademarks, and other original creations. Such creations are known as intellectual property. The organization promotes international agreements concerning copyright, patents, trademarks, and other means of protecting original creations. The organization, known as WIPO, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). Most countries belong to WIPO. The organization’s headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.
WIPO administers two treaties that were established in the 1880’s. One protects copyright. The other safeguards patents, trademarks, and other means of protecting original creations. Administrative agencies of the two treaties joined in 1893 and were replaced by that of WIPO when it was founded in 1967. The agency became part of the UN in 1974. The website of the World Intellectual Property Organization at http://www.ompi.org provides additional information.
