Intellectual Property (IP) Litigation And WIPO

Intellectual property litigation is big business and a challenge that quite often run into millions of dollars. What is it that causes various countries to protect their Intellectual properties? Intellectual property rights are protected for various categories according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is dedicated to developing a balanced and accessible international intellectual property (IP) system. Nowadays IP Litigation is primarily seen in cases covering patent, trademark/trade dress, copyright, trade secrets and related commercial disputes in the areas of antitrust, unfair competition, trade secrets and other technology related areas such as cyber squatting and domain name disputes. Intellectual properties are protected with the following objectives,

To give moral and economic rights to creations


To give the public right to access the creation


To promote creativity /innovation


Dissemination and application of knowledge


To encourage fair trade


Safeguard public interest

Intellectual property is broadly divided into two categories,

Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source;


Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs.

An International Roundtable on the Economics of Intellectual Property is held every year in Geneva, Switzerland and April 26th is celebrated as the world IP day to increase public understanding of IP. WIPO's vision is that IP is an important tool for the economic, social and cultural development of all countries. This shapes its mission to promote the effective use and protection of IP worldwide. The themes of World IP Day over the years have been as follows,

2001 - Creating the Future Today


2002 - Encouraging Creativity


2003 - Make Intellectual Property Your Business


2004 - Encouraging Creativity


2005 - Think, Imagine, Create


2006 - It Starts With An Idea


2007 - Encouraging Creativity


2008 - Celebrating innovation and promoting respect for intellectual property

The author of this article is John Kessel of Managed Outsource Solutions, a US based company that offers legal outsourcing services in Legal Outsourcing, Legal Transcription for clients across the US.