Innovation Europe > News > Innovation EU Vol1-1 > Safeguarding the ideas of the world

Intellectual property is, first and foremost, an instrument for stimulating innovation and creativity, through patents, designs and copyright. It also helps establish market order, and to counter confusion and fraud in the marketplace through trademarks, geographical indications, and unfair competition law. Companies have much to gain in terms of, for example, enhanced competitiveness and access to larger markets, from developing intellectual property-focused business strategies, particularly those seeking to operate within international markets.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is at the service of business and the intellectual property user community at large. The Organization offers a range of cost-effective services that facilitate the process of obtaining international protection for patents, trademarks and designs and that offer attractive dispute resolution alternatives to lengthy and costly litigation through its Arbitration and Mediation Centre

In addition to acting as a service provider to the global economy, WIPO is also a development agency that, through its capacity-building services, seeks to promote more efficient use of the IP system at the national level to enable greater participation on the part of developing countries in the benefits of innovation and the knowledge economy. These initiatives are designed to support the creation of an enabling environment for the development of national innovative and creative assets and to attract foreign direct investment. As these enhanced technical assistance programmes take root, users of the intellectual property system, both national and foreign, have access to enhanced intellectual property services and a greater recognition of the importance of respecting intellectual property rights in the country of operation.

As the international agency responsible for intellectual property, WIPO also facilitates discussions on the future evolution of the international intellectual property system. The most fundamental challenge is to ensure that the intellectual property system continues to stimulate innovation and creativity and to contribute to market order. To this end, the Organization offers a forum for its 184 member states to explore new ways to address the challenges arising from the increasing economic value of innovation and creativity and the rapid evolution of the technological landscape.

For example, our growing dependence on technology has fuelled demand for patent rights around the world. This has resulted in a growing backlog of unexamined patent applications. The international IP community, under the auspices of WIPO, is currently exploring solutions to this major challenge. Similarly, in the field of copyright, there are enormous challenges, arising from the convergence of expression in digital technology and the distributional power of the Internet, for which solutions need to be found.

In today’s highly integrated market economy, innovators and businesses, large and small, need to be able to secure and manage their IP assets cost-effectively and easily. To respond to the growing need for value-added, user-friendly and streamlined international systems that facilitate the acquisition and management of intellectual property assets internationally, WIPO administers a cluster of IP treaties – covering the international protection of inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs and appellations of origin – which ensure that a single international registration or filing will have effect in the relevant signatory states.

The services provided by WIPO under these treaties – the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks, the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs and the Lisbon System for the International Registration of Appellations of Origin – are designed to simplify the process of applying for intellectual property titles in all countries in which protection is sought. With the advent of the Internet and web-based databases, the potential benefits inherent in such centralised filing systems, particularly in respect of the dissemination of technological information found in patent documents, are greatly enhanced. They hold much promise with respect to addressing the needs of developing as well as developed countries.

These WIPO-administered “global protection systems” offer cost-effective and smart business solutions for international operators seeking broad-based IP protection. In this respect also, WIPO plays a role in facilitating international discussions to ensure that these systems keep pace with the changing needs of the user community – be they right holders, their representatives, IP offices or third parties. The revenues generated by the uptake of these fee-based services by the private sector account for 90% of WIPO’s budget.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

The most widely used of these systems is the PCT, which has a membership of 141 countries. A single international patent application under the PCT has legal effect in all countries bound by the Treaty. PCT applicants receive valuable information about the potential patentability of their inventions and have more time than under the traditional patent system to decide in which of the PCT countries to continue pursuing patent protection. Thus, the PCT system consolidates and streamlines patenting procedures, postponing the payment of sizeable costs and providing applicants with a sound basis for important decision-making.

Users of the PCT system increasingly take advantage of electronic filing software for the preparation and filing of PCT international applications. Since 2005, more than half of all PCT applications have been filed entirely or partly in electronic form; in 2008, more than half of PCT applications were filed entirely in electronic form and less than a third were filed using paper only.

PCT applications are filed in many areas. The largest proportion of PCT applications published in 2008 related to medical technology (12%), computer technology (8.5%) and pharmaceuticals (7.9%). The fastest-growing areas were IT methods for management (+22.7%) and microstructures and nanotechnology (+20.7%).

In order to encourage use of the PCT in developing countries, the international filing fee is now reduced by 90% for individual applicants (not companies) from an approved list of developing countries and by 90% for all applicants from least developed countries.

In May 2009, the international trademark registration system marked a milestone in its history with the registration of the millionth international trademark

The Madrid System and the Hague System

The Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks offers trademark owners the possibility of protecting a trademark in the territories of 84 contracting parties to the system, by means of registration of the mark through WIPO, on the basis of a single filing. A similar facility exists for industrial designs under the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs, which currently comprises 56 contracting parties. Both systems offer cost-effective and accelerated access to trademark and industrial design protection in multiple jurisdictions. Data concerning these international trademark and industrial design registrations are accessible online and may be searched by anyone free of charge.

WIPO’s ROMARIN database, containing a detailed history of all international marks, is updated on a daily basis and is free of charge. These systems are constantly being fine-tuned and enhanced in line with the needs of the user community. The ROMARIN database, for example, contains new features that provide users with more detailed information about refusals and refusal periods, thereby offering greater legal clarity about the status of their registration. WIPO also continues to improve its electronic payment facility for the Madrid and Hague system websites.

In May 2009, the international trademark registration system marked a milestone in its history with the registration of the millionth international trademark by Austrian “eco” company Grüne Erde, which specialises in natural wood, textile and cosmetic products. Trademark registrations often mirror evolving consumer tastes and, in this case, the millionth trademark registration reflected a growing environmental consciousness among the general public and the business community.

The Lisbon System

The Lisbon System, with 26 contracting parties, facilitates the international protection of appellations of origin – ie geographical indications protected in their country of origin because they have come to designate a product with geographically determined qualities or characteristics. At the end of 2008, a total of 887 appellations of origin had been registered since Lisbon System operations began in 1966 – of which 813 were still in force. The Working Group on the Development of the Lisbon System, set up by the Lisbon Union Assembly to explore possible improvements to Lisbon System procedures, held its first meeting in 2009.

WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center

As the leading resource in alternative dispute resolution for IP matters, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (Center) offers specialised procedures – in particular arbitration, mediation and expert determination – for the resolution of international commercial disputes between private parties. The Center’s procedures are an efficient and inexpensive alternative to court proceedings, especially for disputes potentially involving different jurisdictions. The Center maintains an extensive list of specialised mediators, arbitrators and experts (neutrals) from all over the world who are available to conduct procedures according to the WIPO Rules. These procedures may take place in any country, in any language and under any law, allowing a great deal of flexibility for the parties.

The Center also works with intellectual property owners and users and their representative organisations in establishing alternative dispute resolution procedures specifically adapted to the particular features of recurrent disputes arising in their specific areas of activity. Streamlined and standardised procedures as well as efficient case-administration infrastructure can facilitate productive use of the IP rights involved.

The Center is also the leading dispute resolution service provider for challenges filed by trademark owners in relation to abusive registration and use of Internet domain names, commonly known as cybersquatting. This procedure is conducted essentially online and results in enforceable decisions generally within two months.

Since the launch of the WIPO-initiated Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), from December 1999 through July 2009, 15,870 UDRP or UDRP-based cases have been filed with the Center, covering 28,077 separate domain names.

The Center is actively engaged with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in bringing to its attention circumstances relevant to the proper functioning of UDRP procedures. It monitors developments with a view to the protection of IP in the Domain Name System and undertakes policy work in this regard. An important policy focus of the Center concerns ICANN’s intention to introduce new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), which calls for the introduction of effective dispute resolution mechanisms in relation to the selection and operation of such domains.

The Center also offers the WIPO Electronic Case Facility (WIPO ECAF) to manage disputes filed under the WIPO Rules. With WIPO ECAF, parties to disputes, neutrals and the Center may securely file, store, search and retrieve case-related submissions in an electronic case file from anywhere in the world and at any time. The parties in some of the more complex of the Center’s recent cases successfully opted to use WIPO ECAF, a customised version of which was used for 35 disputes under the Jury procedure of the America’s Cup high-tech yachting competition.

The Center is the leading dispute resolution service provider for challenges filed by trademark owners in relation to abusive registration and use of Internet domain names

For more information, contact:
Website: www.wipo.int