WIPO, Berne and the International IP System

IPR II · Unit II · Topic 3 of 8 · 6 min read

WIPO's origin in BIRPI, its objectives, organs and functions under the 1967 Convention, the three families of treaties it administers, the Berne Convention's principles and the 1971 Appendix, the related rights and digital treaties (Rome, WCT, WPPT, Beijing, Marrakesh), the 2024 treaties on genetic resources and design law, and the relationship between WIPO and the WTO.

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On this page

1. Origin
2. Objectives and functions
3. Organs
4. The treaties WIPO administers
5. The Berne Convention
6. Related rights and the digital treaties
7. The newest treaties
8. WIPO and the WTO
How this is examined

Cases checked to exist. Read the judgment before quoting a holding.

Every case cited here has been checked to exist — the citation resolves and names the right parties. The propositions attributed to each case have not been verified line by line against the judgment. Case names link through to the full judgment: read it before quoting a holding in an examination answer, and never carry a proposition from notes into court on trust.

Scope. The Paris Convention and TRIPS are treated in IPR I. This note covers the organisation that administers the treaties and the copyright side of the system, built on Berne. For an essay on WIPO, structure the answer as origin, objectives, organs, functions, treaties and evaluation.

1. Origin

The Paris Convention (1883) and the Berne Convention (1886) each set up an international bureau. The two were united in 1893 as the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI), supervised by the Swiss government and based in Berne. The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization was signed at Stockholm on 14 July 1967 and entered into force in 1970. WIPO became a specialised agency of the United Nations in 1974. It is based in Geneva. India became a member in 1975.

2. Objectives and functions

Article 3 of the Convention states WIPO’s objectives: to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world through cooperation among states and, where appropriate, in collaboration with any other international organisation; and to ensure administrative cooperation among the Unions. Its functions under Article 4 include promoting measures to improve protection and harmonise national laws, performing the administrative tasks of the Paris and Berne Unions, offering legal-technical assistance to states, collecting and spreading information, and maintaining services for international registration.

3. Organs

General Assembly of member states that are also members of a Union; it appoints the Director General and adopts the budget.
Conference of all member states.
Coordination Committee, drawn from the executive committees of the Paris and Berne Unions.
International Bureau, the secretariat, headed by the Director General. Daren Tang of Singapore has held the office since 2020.
Standing committees on patents (SCP), copyright (SCCR), trademarks, designs and GIs (SCT), the Intergovernmental Committee on IP and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC, from 2000), and the Committee on Development and IP (CDIP, from 2008).
The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (1994), the leading provider of domain name dispute resolution under the UDRP.

Unusually for a UN agency, most of WIPO’s income comes from fees paid by users of the PCT, Madrid and Hague systems, not from state contributions.

4. The treaties WIPO administers

Family	Treaties
IP protection (substantive standards)	Paris, Berne, Rome, WCT, WPPT, Beijing, Marrakesh, Trademark Law Treaty, Singapore Treaty, Patent Law Treaty, Nairobi Treaty (Olympic symbol), Washington Treaty (layout-designs), Design Law Treaty (2024)
Global protection systems (filing)	PCT (1970), Madrid Agreement and Protocol, Hague Agreement, Lisbon Agreement and Geneva Act, Budapest Treaty
Classification	Nice, Locarno, Strasbourg, Vienna

5. The Berne Convention

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886, was promoted by Victor Hugo’s Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale. It was revised at Berlin (1908), Rome (1928), Brussels (1948), Stockholm (1967) and Paris (1971). India has been a member since 1928. Its principles:

National treatment (Article 5(1)): works originating in one member state get in every other the protection given to its own nationals’ works.
Automatic protection (Article 5(2)): enjoyment and exercise of rights are not subject to any formality. This is why copyright in India arises on creation and registration under section 45 of the Copyright Act is optional evidence. The United States joined only in 1989, after dropping its registration and notice formalities.
Independence of protection (Article 5(2)): protection does not depend on protection in the country of origin.
Minimum standards: protected works (Article 2), exclusive rights of translation, reproduction, public performance, broadcasting, adaptation; moral rights of paternity and integrity (Article 6bis); a minimum term of the author’s life plus fifty years (Article 7), with the “rule of the shorter term” allowing a country to stop at the term of the country of origin.
The three-step test (Article 9(2)) for exceptions to reproduction: certain special cases, not conflicting with normal exploitation, not unreasonably prejudicing the legitimate interests of the author. TRIPS Article 13 extended it to all exclusive rights.
Quotation and teaching exceptions (Article 10).

India and the 1967–71 crisis. At Stockholm in 1967 developing countries, with India prominent among them, secured a Protocol allowing compulsory licences for translation and reproduction for educational use. Developed countries refused to ratify it, and the system nearly broke. The compromise was the Appendix to the Paris Act of 1971, which allows developing countries to grant compulsory licences to translate and reproduce works for teaching and research after set periods. The procedure is so cumbersome that the Appendix has been little used. Sections 32 and 32A of the Copyright Act provide comparable licences. The episode is often cited as evidence that the international copyright system was built for exporters of works.

6. Related rights and the digital treaties

Rome Convention, 1961 (with UNESCO and the ILO): performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organisations. India is not a party but protects these rights through sections 37 to 39A of the Copyright Act.
WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), 1996, the “internet treaties”: a right of making available to the public on demand, and obligations to protect technological protection measures and rights management information. India acceded to both in 2018, after inserting sections 65A and 65B through the 2012 amendment.
Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, 2012: rights of actors in audiovisual fixations.
Marrakesh Treaty, 2013: mandatory exceptions to make accessible format copies for blind, visually impaired and print-disabled persons and to share them across borders. India was the first country to ratify it (2014); section 52(1)(zb) of the Copyright Act already provided the exception.

7. The newest treaties

WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (May 2024): requires patent applicants to disclose the country of origin or source of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge on which the claimed invention is based. It is the first WIPO treaty on the subject and the outcome of more than two decades in the IGC. India’s Patents Act already requires such disclosure (section 10(4)(ii)(D)).
Riyadh Design Law Treaty (November 2024): harmonises and simplifies design registration formalities.

8. WIPO and the WTO

WIPO has no enforcement power; its treaties rely on national implementation, and the International Court of Justice clauses in Paris and Berne have never been used. That weakness is why the developed countries moved IP to the GATT and TRIPS. The WIPO–WTO Agreement of 1995 provides for cooperation: WIPO gives technical assistance to developing countries implementing TRIPS and maintains the registry of state emblems notified under Paris Article 6ter. Scholars describe “forum shifting” (Laurence Helfer, 2004): states move IP norm-making between WIPO, the WTO, the WHO, the CBD and bilateral agreements according to where they expect the best result. Developing countries have recently used WIPO itself to push their agenda, through the Development Agenda (2007), Marrakesh and the 2024 genetic resources treaty.

How this is examined

“Explain the structure and functions of WIPO” or “Discuss the salient features of the Berne Convention.” For WIPO: origin, Article 3 objectives, Article 4 functions, organs, the treaty families, and the WTO relationship. For Berne: history, the three principles, minimum standards including 6bis and Article 7, the three-step test, the 1971 Appendix, and the internet treaties.

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