WIPO

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an international body of the United Nations, responsible for the cooperation and promotion of an international intellectual property system.

Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

WIPO offers trademark database services, but more importantly:

A single portal designed to centralize the administrative procedures for filing, registering and managing international trademarks
:

This portal allows you to file a single trademark application with WIPO, pay a single set of fees and apply for protection in some or all of the Madrid Protocol territories.

This system avoids the need for a multitude of national filings with different Offices abroad, whose practices and prices are very different from one another.

To date, 128 countries and regions have joined the Madrid Protocol.

The operation is as follows:

• The first step is to file a so-called “originating” trademark with a national or regional intellectual property office (for example, the INPI for a French trademark or the EUIPO for a European Union trademark).

• Second step: if you wish to extend your trademark abroad, apply for an international registration before WIPO after having selected, from the list of countries and regions adhering to the Madrid Protocol, the member states relevant to the development and activity envisaged.

• Step 3: WIPO will notify your application to each of the national and regional intellectual property offices you have chosen to designate.

• Fourth step: The national and regional intellectual property offices concerned will then decide on the merits of your trademark application, and will accept or refuse it according to the rules applicable in each of the territories concerned.

WIPO also offers a similar system for centralizing design filings.

Out-of-court procedures for domain name disputes:

These are the ” UDRP “, which are governed by the UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) and cover disputes applicable to domain names with the following extensions: .aero, .asia, .biz, .cat, .com, .coop, .co, .info, .jobs, .mobi, .museum, .name, .net, .org, .pro, .tel and .travel.

These procedures allow the rights holder (individual or company) to avoid having to go to court, and thus offer the possibility of fast (decisions within an average of two months) and economical procedures, entirely online.

Update on World Intellectual Property Day

WIPO has established World Intellectual Property Day, which is held annually on April 26.

This day is regularly the occasion for the organization of events around intellectual property, which thus aim to discover and promote the role and interest of intellectual property, but also to deepen exciting current notions.

The Bouchara firm assists you in particular in :

• Pre-filing search of prior rights in order to anticipate the risk of reaction from third parties against the trademark application;
• The
  deposit
  of your international trademark applications (drafting of the wording of the product(s) and/or service(s ) classes, information relating to the applicant, analysis of the distinctive character of the sign, etc.) and the follow-up of the life of your trademarks, before WIPO and before the other intellectual property offices;
• All disputes relating to domain names
  
  ;
• Protection and defense of your intellectual property rights in France and abroad (opposition proceedings, nullity actions, forfeiture for lack of use or loss of distinctive character, infringement actions, seizure proceedings, etc.).