Major International Organisations in the field of Intellectual Property
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation): UN Global Forum for intellectual property (IP) services, policy, information and cooperation.
It administers International Treaties and offers services including Patent Protection Treaties (PCTs), Trademarks (Madrid System), Industrial Designs (Hague System), Geographical Indications (Lisbon System).
WTO (World Trade Organisation): it regulates IP rights in the multilateral context through the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office): European Union (EU) agency responsible for managing EU trademarks (EUTMs), registered Community designs (RCDs), Geographical Indications (GIs) for craft and industrial products, European and international cooperation in the field of intellectual property (IP), as well as the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights.
EPO (European Patent Office): the executive arm of the European Patent Organisation. Based on the 1973 European Patent Convention (EPC), it enables inventors to obtain protection for their patents in the organisation’s member states through a centralised and uniform filing procedure.
European Union: it strives to harmonise IPRs through the creation of a unified EU system, working alongside national systems, such as in the case of the EU trade marks and designs and the unitary European patent. Furthermore, the EU, acting as a single entity, negotiates through its representatives in the European Commission the trade agreements with both third countries and multilateral organisations on behalf of all its Member States.
Italian Institutions in the field of intellectual property
Italian Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy – Italian Patent and Trademark Office : it is responsible for Industrial Property (patents, trademarks, industrial designs), the protection of Made in Italy, the fight against counterfeiting and Italian Sounding.
Italian Ministry of Culture – Directorate-General for Libraries and Copyright: it is responsible for copyright and categories of ‘rights related to copyright’, granted to subjects such as artists, performers, etc.
Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry: it is responsible for geographical indications and PDO or PGI registration of wines and agri-food products (together with Italian regions and the European Commission).