WIPO Director Briefs Ambassadors On Results, Outlook

The director general of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization recently briefed ambassadors in Geneva on 2017 results and the outlook for the organisation and the IP field. Here’s a preliminary look at what they were told.

The annual briefing by WIPO Director General Francis Gurry to the ambassadors of the member-state driven UN agency took place on 22 March. Slides from the presentation are available on the WIPO website here [pdf].

The presentation covered the global IP context, financial results from last year and the outlook, operational results from 2017 and the program for this year, and other highlights and challenges.

Gurry said demand for WIPO services continues to grow at a higher rate than the global economy, and that the geography of demand continues to shift, with the highest growth in Asia, especially China, according to the slides. He gave statistics for patents and trademarks, noting that patent and trademark applications have risen for seven straight years and that there were 3.1 million patents worldwide in 2016. The United States and Japan still are far ahead in filings outside of their borders.

For finances, he showed a surplus for the organisation in 2017 of CHF 18.6 million, with revenues of CHF 413.5 million, some CHF 25.8 million over 2016. Expenses in 2017 were CHF 394.9 million, an increase of CHF 44.5 million over restated 2016 figures. The additional costs appeared to be spread across a variety of items, such as personnel, travel/training/grants, contractual services, furniture and equipment, and “finance costs.”

Nearly 72 percent of WIPO income came from management of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Trademark filings under the Madrid System also have been rising significantly, as have those under the Hague System for industrial design (though the overall numbers are still modest).

According to the slides, net assets for WIPO have burgeoned from about CHF 195 million in 2010 to more than CHF 341 million in 2017 (even despite a drop in the slow global year of 2011).

Also in the presentation is data on WIPO’s dispute settlement services. The alternative dispute resolution data show a rise in cases and a relatively equal distribution across the different types of intellectual property (with patents the most and copyright the least).

Other statistics show cooperation between WIPO and national IP offices, and internet domain name dispute resolution (with a record 3,074 cases last year).

Gurry also gave an update on negotiations proceeding in the areas of design law, genetic resources/traditional knowledge/folklore, and broadcasting. And he talked about: various WIPO databases and platforms; programs like WIPO Re:Search which encourages sharing of health-related IP assets with developing countries; capacity building and funds-in-trust donations from governments; statistics and reports generated; and the rising following of its website and social media.

The initiatives and challenges he closed with included the list below, but no details were available at press time:

Advanced Technology Applications Center (ATAC). This includes artificial intelligence (AI) applications. It also includes, in operation, WIPO Translate, Classifications, Image Search. And under study or development: voice recognition and verbatim, customer services, digital tutor, and human resources recruitment.

ICT Strategies and AI for IP Administration, May 2018

Tech Trends Report

Judicial Administration of IP

Patent Drafting Training and Certification

External Offices: Establishment of offices in Algeria and Nigeria; and decision on up to four new offices

World IP Day: April 26; and Powering change: Women in innovation and creativity

Major IT Transformations: Global IP Platform; Hague IT Platform; Madrid IT Platform

SDGs (the UN Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2030)

 

Image Credits: Catherine Saez