What is WIPO?

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 Director General is Francis Gurry.

Strategic Goals

WIPO's revised and expanded strategic goals are part of a comprehensive process of realignment taking place within the Organization. These new goals will enable WIPO to fulfill its mandate more effectively in response to a rapidly evolving external environment, and to the urgent challenges for intellectual property in the 21st Century.

The nine strategic goals set out in the Revised Program and Budget for the 2008/09 Biennium [PDF] are:

• Balanced Evolution of the International Normative Framework for IP
• Provision of Premier Global IP Services
• Facilitating the Use of IP for Development
• Coordination and Development of Global IP Infrastructure
• World Reference Source for IP Information and Analysis
• International Cooperation on Building Respect for IP
• Addressing IP in Relation to Global Policy Issues
• A Responsive Communications Interface between WIPO, its Member States and All Stakeholders
• An Efficient Administrative and Financial Support Structure to Enable WIPO to Deliver its Programs