Building Respect for IP: Assistance to Member States

To help our member states create a sustainable environment in which intellectual property (IP) is respected, we provide training and capacity-building activities as well as legislative assistance.

Respect for IP is a basic principle to which all WIPO member states subscribe. Despite this, counterfeiting and piracy remain significant global challenges. Tackling these problems is a long-term endeavour, requiring a range of approaches.

Our work is guided by Strategic Goal VI of WIPO and Recommendation 45 of WIPO’s Development Agenda.

Interregional Workshop on Copyright Enforcement, held in Seoul in 2017. (Photo: KCOPA)

How we can help

Training and capacity building

We organize interactive and practical workshops, seminars and meetings at the national, sub-regional or inter-regional level. These are designed in close coordination with member states to meet their specific needs and circumstances. Speakers are typically international and national experts in the field of IP.

The topics range from enforcement, to items raised by member states at the Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE), such as preventive measures, awareness-raising, and mechanisms to complement IP enforcement.

List of activities

Our participants...

Number of building respect for IP capacity building activities by region, 2014-16

Regions involved in respect for IP capacity building activities, 2018-19. (Click on image to enlarge)

Number of building respect for IP activities by audience type, 2014-16

Professional background of participants in respect of IP capacity building activities, 2014-16. (Click on image to enlarge)

Legislative assistance

We provide legislative assistance in the field of IP enforcement.

This helps member states to assess how compatible current or draft legislation is with enforcement-related obligations under Part III of the TRIPS Agreement.

Assistance is provided only upon request from member states and on a confidential basis.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Interregional Workshop for Building Respect for Copyright and Related Rights

Since 2012, WIPO and the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) have jointly organized this annual Workshop .

The event focuses on enforcement in the digital environment, covering a range of topics such as online infringement, piracy, border measures, and awareness raising from both the international and national perspectives.

Participants come from a diverse range of countries and typically include representatives of the judiciary and national copyright offices

Background: Part III of the TRIPS Agreement

The TRIPS Agreement is an international trade agreement that sets out minimum standards and flexibilities for the protection of IP rights for World Trade Organization (WTO) members. Developed and developing members are obliged to comply with the provisions of the Agreement, whilst least-developed members benefit from a transition period until 2021.

Part III of the TRIPS Agreement, entitled “Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights”, sets out a framework for effective IP enforcement.

Сase Books

Our Case Books on the Enforcement of IP Rights are a training tool for members of the judiciary, law enforcement officials, attorneys and right holders.

They address the infringement of IP rights, civil remedies, and criminal enforcement, with a particular focus on counterfeiting and piracy.

Written by expert authors, the Case Books are currently available in four versions: English, French, Spanish and Arabic.