Intellectual Property

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

The World Intellectual Property Organization was established by the WIPO Convention in 1967 and became a specialized agency of the United Nations system in 1974, based in Geneva since 1978.

WIPO currently administers 24 treaties and carries out, through its Secretariat (International Bureau) and its Member States a rich and varied program in intellectual property protection.

 Greece, being a member of the Assemblies of almost all of the WIPO bodies namely the Berne Union, the Budapest Union, the Hague Union, the IPC Union, the Locarno Union, the Madrid Union (Marks), the Nice Union and the Paris Union, participates fully in their works. Greece is also a member of the WIPO General Assembly, the WIPO Conference and of the Intergovernmental Committee of the Rome Convention.

 Of the 24 treaties administered by WIPO, Greece is party to the Berne Convention, the Brussels Convention, the Budapest Treaty, the Hague Agreement, the Locarno Agreement, the Madrid Protocol, the Nairobi Treaty, the Nice Agreement, the Paris Convention, the PCT, the Phonograms Convention, the Rome Convention, the Strasbourg Agreement and the WIPO Convention.

 Greece has also signed the Film Register Treaty, the PLT, the TLT, the WCT and the WPPT.

 Greece also follows regularly the works of WIPO major Standing Committees and has been presiding over the Appeals Board of the Organization since March 2007. In September 2007, Greece was elected, by the WIPO General Assembly, member of the Program and Budget Committee, for a 2-year term.

Greece is a member of the Group B of WIPO (Western European and others Group).