INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS CONCERNED WITH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

International institutions for IPR are those organisations on international levels which deals with
laws relating to trademark, patent, copyright and other intellectual property concepts. Theses
institutions aim at promoting inter governmental cooperation in the field of IPR. They also foster
the participation of NGOs, think tanks, Nonprofit organisations in the process of influencing the
laws related to IPR. The ultimate purpose of these institutions is to promote and develop an
advanced Intellectual Property system so as to encourage innovation and research and to promote
economic development in countries by effective use of such systems.

Some of the important international institutions for IPR are as follows:

● World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)

The World Intellectual Property Organisation was established in 1967 under WIPO convention.
WIPO is a United Nations Specialised agency which seeks to develop an effective and balanced
international Intellectual Property system which encourages innovation, creativity and leads to
economic development which benefits the public.
In 1974, WIPO became an UN specialised agency. Currently 193 nations are members of WIPO
who take part in the annual meeting of the assemblies. The HeadQuarter of WIPO is situated in
Geneva, Switzerland and the Director General of WIPO is Francis Garry.
They main Functions of WIPO are:
➢ It acts as a policy forum to form balanced and effective IP rules for the changing world
➢ It promotes cooperation among the nations to use IP for social, economic and cultural
development
➢ It provides technical infrastructure to connect various IP systems so as to collect and
disseminate information.
➢ It provides legal assistance in the field of IP protection.
➢ It signs international agreements for IP protection..
➢ It administers various international convention and treaties on IP.

250 Non Governmental Organisations and InterGovernmental Organisations are also a part of
WIPO. They act as ‘Official Observers’ at WIPO meetings.
In recent years, the structure of WIPO has been reorganized, it’s strategic goals have been
reviewed and broadened which will help to apply its mandate more effectively in this fast
changing 21st century world.

● The International Trademark Association (INTA)

The International Trademark Association (INTA) is an international association of brand owners
from around the globe supporting each other in the matters of trademark and IP to encourage
innovation , economic growth and consumer trust. INTA was established by 17 merchants and
manufacturers in 1878 who believed there was a need for an organization which protects and
promotes the rights of trademark owners and encourages and gives aid to the efforts made for
the advancement of trademark rights.
INTA is a non- Profit Association which aims to serve its members and the society as an
advocate of social and economic value of brands.
The headquarters of INTA is situated in New York City . It also has its offices in Shanghai,
Singapore, Brussels, Washington D.C. and Santiago, and its representatives in New Delhi and
Geneva.
More than 7200 organisations from 187 countries are members of INTA. The association’s
members include major brand owners, medium or small enterprises, law firms and non profit
organisations, individual students and professors and government agency members.

● The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI)

The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property( AIPPI) is an

International organisation which aims at development of laws for protection of Intellectual
Property. It is a non profit and politically neutral organisation based in Switzerland. It has around
9000 members from 125 countries. The members of AIPPI are individuals who are interested in
protection of intellectual property rights. They include, lawyers, patent agents, trademark agents,
scientists , engineers, judges as well as corporations. AIPPI is categorized into 68 national and 2
regional groups. The members can be obtained by joining any of these groups. The counts where
there are no groups, membership can be obtained as an independent member.

Aims and objectives of AIPPI: The main objective of AIPPI is to promote and improve
protection of Intellectual property on both national and international levels. It works for the
development and improvement of both international and regional treaties and agreements dealing
with Intellectual Property.
It also conducts studies of existing national laws and suggests measures to bring those laws at par
with international laws. When necessary, AIPPI also takes part in submissions before courts and
legislative bodies to advocate for strengthening of Intellectual Property protection.

AIPPI holds world congress annually which is open for all of its members to attend. In world
congress various questions related to intellectual property is discussed and decided onconsensual
basis. It also acts as a platform for educational programmes and professional development
programmes.
 ● International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI)

International Intellectual Property Institute(IIPI), is a non profit organisation established in 1998.

Its main objective is to provide assistance to the policy makers of all the parts of the world, to
understand the use of intellectual property rights as a tool for economic development and
growth. IIPI focuses its attention on developing countries so that they can make effective use of
intellectual property for their own benefit. Its programmes provide training for commercializing
publicly funded research, protecting and escalating the benefits of traditional culture and modern
techniques of judicial resolutions of disputes relating to Intellectual Property. IIPI has conducted
various training and educational programmes on protection and effective use of intellectual
property in more than 30 countries in 5 continents.
IIPI supports the creative artists to protect and gain benefit from their intellectual works.it alos
assist small businesses, academic institutions and independent inventors in commercialising their
inventions using IP systems.it demystifies the role and benefits of IP in development of economy
and provides guidance on using IP rights in the most efficient effective manner. It also conducts
research on the impact of intellectual property rights on the economy. IIPI is one of the few
international organisations which strive for improving IP systems to encourage economic
development in all countries.

The initial goals of IIPI have been achieved as now most of the countries have modern
intellectual property rights laws. So now IIPI focuses on providing education to developed and
developing countries who look out for understanding and participating in global IP system of the
21st century.

● IP Federation

IP Federation is an United Kingdom based intellectual property trade association. It represents

the views of UK industry in the matters of IPR policy in the United Kingdom, European Union
and internationally. It came into existence in1920 as an organisation which represents the
interests of its members in matters of Intellectual Property rule making in the UK and
internationally.
Earlier it was named as TradeMarks Patents and Designs Federation. This name was changed to
IP Federation in the year 2014. The federation believes that a high quality and a cost effective
IPR framework is necessary for the success of an industry in the global economy. The federation
believes every industrial or commercial company owns or is affected by intellectual property
rights hence the federation strives to ensure that proper IP rights are available and they are easy
to secure and can be litigated without undue expenses or complexities.
The main aim of the federation is to bring improvements in the IPR system in the whole world. It
makes submissions to the legislators, policy makers, NGOs and other groups to influence
legislations related to IPR. the main concern of the federation is to ensure that it’s members have
a broad platform to express their collective opinions and concerns.
 ● International Intellectual Property Alliance(IIPA)

International Intellectual Property Alliance(IIPA) is a private sector alliance of tarde association

which represents US based copyright industries. It works for improvement and enforcement of
international protection to copyrighted materials and helps to open up foreign markets which are
closed due to piracy or other market barriers. The members of IIPA are:

● Association of American Publishers (AAP);

● Entertainment Software Association (ESA);
● Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA);
● Motion Picture Association (MPA); and
● Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

These 5 members represent 3200 US companies which produce copyrighted materials globally
like, entertainment and educational softwares, motion picture, DVDs, television programmes,
CDs, music records, fictional and non fictional books, journals, databases, etc. IIPA works to
ensure that provisions for high level of copyright protection and their effective enforcement is
present in the legal framework. IIPA looks out for improvements in existing copyright laws to
foster economic and cultural development in countries that will discourage malpractices like
piracy and improve market access. These changes encourage innovation, creativity and
employment. IIPA seeks to bring about legal reforms to deal with the evolving threat of piracy
and unlicensed use by individuals and the government itself. IIPA advocates strong and deterrent
actions against the offender.