WIPO's global filing systems: PCT for patents, Madrid for trademarks, Hague for designs and Lisbon for geographical indications

Background

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) describes itself as the United Nations agency that serves innovators and creators, ensuring that their ideas travel safely to the market. It was established in 1967 and its headquarters is at Geneva, Switzerland. Its 194 member states approve its strategic direction and activities in the annual meetings of the Assemblies, while its staff form the Secretariat that implements those decisions. Some 250 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) have official observer status at WIPO meetings. The international filing and registration systems WIPO lists are PCT, the International Patent System; Budapest, the International Microorganism Deposit System; Madrid, the International Trademark System; Hague, the International Design System; and Lisbon, the International System of Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications. It also maintains WIPO Lex for intellectual property laws, treaties and judgments, lists the WIPO-Administered Treaties, and publishes the Global Innovation Index. Its external offices are at Algiers, Rio de Janeiro, Beijing, Tokyo, Abuja, Moscow and Singapore.