World Intellectual Property Organization

Why in news?

• The World Intellectual Property Organization (the "WIPO") has released its annual statistics on global IP filings for 2019.
• Overall, global trademark filings increased by 5.9%, industrial design filings increased by 1.3% and patent filings decreased by 3%.
• However, Canada, the United States, the Republic of Korea, the European Patent Office and India all had increased numbers of patent applications filed in 2019.
• India had around 50,000 patent applications in 2019 compared to 5 lakhs for USA and more than 1 million for China.

WIPO

• WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information and cooperation.
• It is a self-funding agency of the United Nations, with 191 member states.
• India is a member of the agency.
• WIPO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mission:

• To lead the development of effective international intellectual property (IP) system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.

Intellectual Properties (IPs) that comes under WIPO are:

• Copyright
• Patents
• Trademarks
• Industrial Designs
• Geographical Indications

Add on:

• WIPO is a co-publisher of the Global Innovation Index.

Prelims Question

Consider the following statements regarding Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS):
1.TRIPS agreement was is administered by World Intellectual Property Organization
2.“Doha declaration”  is associated with TRIPS agreement.
Which among the above statements is/are correct?
(a)1 only 
(b)2 only 
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question