International Organizations and IP

The World Trade Organization (WTO)

The World Trade Organization (WTO)  is an international organization which regulates trade between its 164 member states, including the United States. At the heart of the WTO system are the WTO’s agreements, negotiated and signed by a large majority of the world’s trading nations, and ratified in their parliaments. These agreements are the legal ground-rules for international commerce.

One of these agreements is the 1994 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)  which introduced intellectual property rules into the multilateral trading system for the first time. The WTO website contains information about that agreement and its implementation, as well as information about global rules of trade between nations.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO ) is a United Nations agency whose mission is “to lead the development of a balanced and effective intellectual property (IP) system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.” Its website contains information on IP issues worldwide as well as information on the intellectual property application and registration systems that WIPO administers.

The World Health Organization (WHO)

To promote new thinking in innovation and access to medicines, the WHO created the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (GSPOA ). GSPOA encourages needs-driven research rather than purely market-driven research to target diseases which disproportionately affect people in developing countries.

The U.S. Department of State does not specifically endorse organizations, associations, or businesses. Any and all links to websites outside the U.S. Government are strictly for information purposes only.