Overview. The World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Established by the WIPO Convention of 1967, WIPO is a depository for international conventions and treaties on intellectual property that date from 1886. Alone and in collaboration with other international organizations, it pursues a goal of developing a “balanced and accessible” international legal system for the protection of intellectual property (“IP”). As an intergovernmental public organization, WIPO seeks to use IP for public betterment to ensure that the IP legal protections exist and are enforced for rewarding creativity, stimulating innovation and contributing to economic development while safeguarding the public interest.
Role of WIPO Activities on the Legal Framework for Outsourcing Relationships. In the field of outsourcing, the traditional core statutory legal rights in copyright, trademarks and patents play an essential role in enabling service delivery. In outsourcing of software development or Website development, or customization of an Enterprise Resource Planning software package, ownership rights in the work product is essential for
- ensuring the enterprise customer can exclude copycats,
- giving the service provider appropriate competitive advantage to market and deliver services based on its IP (or its licensors’ IP) that is embedded in the service provider’s technology platform;
- preventing individuals employed by the service provider (as well as those employed by the enterprise customer) from misappropriating proprietary rights in the work product or services as delivered;
In legal analysis of the role of IP in outsourcing, the parties need to be identify the relevant IP in the technology platform and networks, and to preserve the rights of the parties to exploit commercially any know-how that it may have as a trade secret.
WIPO’s plays several roles in this outsourcing framework. These include:
- publishing IP laws of the world as well as international conventions and treaties, thereby helping parties identify legal rights under applicable laws;
- providing training to lawyers and arbitrators in alternative dispute resolution procedures relating to IP, particularly those involving Internet-based domain names; and
- promoting adoption by member states (countries) of up-to-date IP laws to provide a foundation for foreign direct investment and international trade in services, thus supporting the role of the World Trade Organization and the WTO multilateral trade agreements.
Emerging Issues. WIPO has initiated a program to preserve “traditional knowledge” (“TK”), “genetic resources” (“GR”) and traditional cultural expressions (“TCE’s”) from the onslaught of private legal rights. On November 13, 2009, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry, joined by India’s Secretary, Department of Industry and Commerce, Mr. Ajay Shankar, opened an international conference by highlighting the importance of developing a balanced international legal framework for the effective protection of such forms of “IP.”
Further Reading:
WIPO home page: www.wipo.org
World Trade Organization home page: www.wto.org