About WIPO

What is WIPO?

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the United Nations agency that serves the world's innovators and creators, ensuring that their ideas travel safely to the market and improve lives everywhere.

We do so by providing services that enable creators, innovators and entrepreneurs to protect and promote their intellectual property (IP) across borders and acting as a forum for addressing cutting-edge IP issues. Our IP data and information guide decisionmakers the world over. And our impact-driven projects and technical assistance ensure IP benefits everyone, everywhere.

Quick facts

History: established in 1967
Membership: 194 member states
Director General: Daren Tang
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

Who we are

Member states

Member states

Our 193 member states approve WIPO's strategic direction and activities in the annual meetings of the Assemblies.

  • WIPO member states
  • Decision-making bodies
  • Information by country
Management & staff

Management & staff

Our staff (- the Secretariat), guided by our core values, provide the skills to implement the member states' decisions and deliver WIPO's diverse programs.

  • Director General Daren Tang
  • Sector Leads
  • Activities by unit
  • WIPO Workforce 2024
  • Organigram
Observers

Observers

Some 250 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) have official observer status at WIPO meetings.

What we do

We help governments, businesses and society realize the benefits of IP.

We provide:

  • A policy forum to shape balanced international IP rules for a changing world;
  • Global services to protect IP across borders and to resolve disputes;
  • Technical infrastructure to connect IP systems and share knowledge;
  • Cooperation and capacity-building programs to enable all countries to use IP for economic, social and cultural development;
  • A world reference source for IP information
Video: WIPO in three minutes

Video: WIPO in three minutes

Video: WIPO in three minutes