Turning ideas into assets

WIPO

If you have any questions to this text or to our work at WIPO in general, you are welcome to contact:

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 system. WIPO was established in 1967. There are approximately 180 member states. WIPO's headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.

WIPO's strategic direction and activities are determined by its member states. The member state's representatives meet in assemblies, committees and working groups. The WIPO Secretariat coordinates formal and informal meetings of the member state bodies throughout the year.

Selected currently important discussions

 

The PCT Working Group

The working group is concerned with improvement of the PCT system. In February 2009 the Director General of WIPO launched a memorandum entitled "Future of the PCT" which dealt with a number of significant problems in the PCT system and suggested a number of solutions in a so-called "road map". The main objectives with the proposals in the road map are to reduce duplication of work between the various patent offices and to achieve enhanced quality and trust in the work done by PCT authorities. The Danish Patent and Trademark Office plays an active role in the work to enhance the PCT system. The last meeting in the PCT working group took place in May 2009.
See the documents and report from the meeting.

Legal Working Group on the Madrid System

The working group is working towards a unification of the systems under the Madrid agreement and the Madrid protocol respectively. The aim is to have one system only, namely the Protocol system. We strongly support the efforts made to harmonize the Madrid system. We believe that a simplification of the system will be of vital interest to the users on a global scale.

Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SPC)

The committee was originally established to harmonize the patent law in WIPO's member states. Harmonization of the formality requirements for patent applications was achieved through the Patent Law Treaty. However, harmonization of the substantial patent requirements has been more difficult to achieve. The committee's meetings were suspended for some years due to lack of practical progress, but were resumed in June 2008. The current discussions in the SCP are based on various studies on agreed topics, but it is still uncertain when it will be possible to resume the discussion on harmonization of substantial patent requirements. The last SCP meeting was held in March 2009.
See the documents from the meeting.
In order to sustain momentum of the important work on substantial patent harmonization, Denmark has taken a leadership role in the B+ Working Group.
Read more about the B+ Working Group.

Questions

If you have any questions to this text or to our work at WIPO in general, you are welcome to contact us. If your question concerns patents, please contact either Flemming Konig Mejl or Barbara Suhr-Jessen. If your question concerns trademarks or designs, please contact Anja Bech Hornecker.