Emergence of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) The major aspects of intellectual property namely copyrights and patents

came forth in Europe before the industrial revolution. It all started during the mid-nineteenth century, when there was almost no intellectual property protection between the United States, Canada and Europe. Foreign authors and inventors suffered a great deal due to a lack of respect for copyrights and patents shown by these countries. It is very well known that an author like Charles Dickens had to face piracy issues because of cheap editions of his works being produced in the United States. At the same Mark Twain had to fight against piracy of his books in Canada and Britain. The end of the nineteenth century saw most industrial nations put more emphasis on copyright and patent practices. The keenness of the industrial nations like the United States and Europe to access newer markets across the globe in the twentieth century led to stricter standardization of intellectual property. This led to the emergence of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The WIPO was mainly a result of the events that happened at the International Exhibition of Inventions, held in Vienna in 1873. There was a fear among the foreign exhibitors that their ideas and inventions would be stolen. This led to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883 to protect patents, trademarks, and designs. This was followed by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886 covering copyright and some related rights. The Berne Convention was later formed into the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property, better known by its French acronym BIRPI. The BIRPI then changed its headquarters from Berne to Geneva. Then in 1967 it was reorganized as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In 1974 the WIPO became part of the United Nations and thus became a body to regulate intellectual property concerns of the members of the United Nations. In 1996 WIPO and WTO formalized an agreement for cooperation in terms of intellectual property in international trade the TRIPS Agreement. Today, the WIPO comprises of over 700 staff members. Its headquarters are in Geneva and it also has an office at the United Nations Plaza in New York City. Over 90 percent of the worlds countries are its members. Purpose and Function of WIPO The main aim of the WIPO is to protect all types of intellectual property. Since 1974 WIPO has undertaken the administration of 20 multilateral treaties on intellectual property which also include the Paris and Berne Conventions, the Madrid Union, and the TLT. Given below is a list of some of the treaties. These offer a minimum standard of protection to those countries who are a signatory to the treaties.

Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property:

It was established in 1888 and was amended seven times by 1979. It has 30 articles and they define the scope of protection of industrial property. Industrial property comprises of utility models,

industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, trade names, indications of source or appellations of origin. Also included in industrial patents are patents of importation, patents of improvement, patents and certificates of addition, etc. Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works: It started in 1886 and was revised seven times by 1979. There are 38 articles plus an Appendix of 6 articles. The types of works protected by this treaty are: 1. 'Literary and artistic works'; 2. Possible requirement of fixation; 3. Derivative works; 4. Official texts; 5. Collections; 6. Obligation to protect; beneficiaries of protection; 7. Works of applied art and industrial designs; 8. News
Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations: It was completed in 1961 and was an addition to the protection of copyright in literary and artistic works. Under this treaty the following were protected: (a) Performers (b) Phonogram (aural fixation of sounds of a performance) (c) Producers of Phonograms (d) Publication (offering of copies of a phonogram to the public) (e) Reproduction (making of a copy or copies of a fixation) (f) Broadcasting (transmission by wireless means for public reception) (g) Rebroadcasting (simultaneous broadcasting by one broadcasting organisation of the broadcast of another broadcasting organisation)

Bibliography: Patents, Profits and Power: How Intellectual Property Rules the Global Economy by Curtis Cook A Short Course in International Intellectual Property Rights: Protecting Your Brands, Marks, Copyrights, Patents, Designs, and Related Rights Worldwide by Karla C. Shippey The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash Between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System by Siva Vaidhyanathan