WIPO Convention

WIPO Convention
Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization
Type	Intellectual property
Signed	14 July 1967
Location	Stockholm, Sweden
Effective	26 April 1970
Condition	10 ratifications by Paris Union states plus seven ratifications by Berne Union states
Signatories	50
Parties	193
Depositary	Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization
Languages	English, French, Russian, and Spanish

The WIPO Convention (formally, the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization) is a multilateral treaty that established the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

History

Paris and Berne Conventions (1883 and 1886)

The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, adopted in 1883, was one of the first intellectual property treaties. In its original text it established a Union for the protection of industrial property and the organization of an international office under the title Bureau international de l'Union pour la Protection de la propriété industrielle, which "shall be placed under the high authority of the highest Government authorities (Administration supérieure) of the Swiss Confederation."^[1]

Three years later, with the adoption of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in 1886, a second international bureau was created: the Bureau international pour la protection des œuvres littéraires et artistiques, also under the supervision of the Swiss Federal Government.^[1]

Following the creation of the Berne Office, the Swiss Government effectively merged it with the Paris Office by appointing the same director and staff to both organizations. Nevertheless, this unification was not formally established until the decree issued by the Swiss Federal Council on November 11, 1892, creating the United Bureaus.^[1] ^[2] Eventually, these united offices would come to be known as the Bureaux internationaux réunis pour la protection de la propriété intellectuelle (United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property), or BIRPI.^[3]

Modernization of BIRPI

By the middle of the twentieth century, the institutional structure of BIRPI, which had been designed in the previous century, had become inadequate for the political and technical realities of the time. By the 1960s, four international intellectual property agreements had established their own respective unions:^[2]

These unions lacked assemblies of member states with decision-making authority and were all administered by BIRPI. Consequently, oversight of their activities and finances remained in the hands of the Swiss Government.^[2]

Additionally, other similar international organizations established in the nineteenth century like BIRPI, such as the Universal Postal Union and the International Telecommunication Union, were also modernized and became specialized agencies of the United Nations in 1949 and 1948, respectively.^[2]

Stockholm Conference (1967)

The convention was signed at Stockholm, Sweden, on 14 July 1967 and entered into force on 26 April 1970. As of August 22, 2025, the convention had 194 contracting States.^[4] The two UN member states that have not ratified the WIPO Convention are:^{[citation needed]}

The convention is written in English, French, Russian and Spanish, all texts being equally authentic.^[5] The convention was amended on 28 September 1979.^{[citation needed]}

References

1 2 3 Bogsch, Arpad; World Intellectual Property Organization (1983). The Paris convention for the protection of industrial property from 1883 to 1983. Geneva, Switzerland: International Bureau of Intellectual Property. p. 69. doi:10.34667/tind.28775. ISBN 9789280500998.
1 2 3 4 World Intellectual Property Organization (1992). The first twenty-five years of the World Intellectual Property Organization, from 1967 to 1992. Geneva, Switzerland: International Bureau of Intellectual Property. pp. 21–22. doi:10.34667/tind.28758. ISBN 9789280504217.
↑ World Intellectual Property Organization (1992). The first twenty-five years of the World Intellectual Property Organization, from 1967 to 1992. Geneva, Switzerland: International Bureau of Intellectual Property. p. 21. doi:10.34667/tind.28758. ISBN 9789280504217.
↑ OMPI (22 August 2025). World intelectual Property Organization (ed.). "Contracting parties of treaties administered by WIPO. Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization" (PDF).
↑ Article 20(1)(a) of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization

External links

Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, on the WIPO web site
The full text of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (in English) in the WIPO Lex database – official website of WIPO.

[:0-1] 1 2 3 Bogsch, Arpad; World Intellectual Property Organization (1983). The Paris convention for the protection of industrial property from 1883 to 1983. Geneva, Switzerland: International Bureau of Intellectual Property. p. 69. doi:10.34667/tind.28775. ISBN 9789280500998.

[:2-2] 1 2 3 4 World Intellectual Property Organization (1992). The first twenty-five years of the World Intellectual Property Organization, from 1967 to 1992. Geneva, Switzerland: International Bureau of Intellectual Property. pp. 21–22. doi:10.34667/tind.28758. ISBN 9789280504217.

[3] World Intellectual Property Organization (1992). The first twenty-five years of the World Intellectual Property Organization, from 1967 to 1992. Geneva, Switzerland: International Bureau of Intellectual Property. p. 21. doi:10.34667/tind.28758. ISBN 9789280504217.

[:1-4] OMPI (22 August 2025). World intelectual Property Organization (ed.). "Contracting parties of treaties administered by WIPO. Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization" (PDF).

[5] Article 20(1)(a) of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization

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