WIPO Magazine

Issue Number

Latest documents

• Introducing WIPO PROOF: an interview with Francis Gurry

  WIPO Director General Francis Gurry introduces WIPO PROOF, the latest in the Organization’s suite of IP business services and reflects on the broader issue of data governance and the importance of innovation and creativity in tackling current economic and health challenges.

• The written word can still change the world

  The written word in its most basic form enables a transfer of knowledge from the ideas of an author directly into the hearts and minds of readers across the world. For centuries, it has transformed our society and in 2020, we need the written word - and, indeed, publishers - more than ever. Michiel Kolman explains why.

• Drug repurposing and the COVID-19 pandemic

  The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted worldwide interest in the repurposing of drugs such as remdesivir and dexamethasone. Repurposing can be crucial for delivering new treatments to patients, but also raises a number of IP-related questions.

• Baidu's AI-related patented technologies: Doing battle with COVID-19

  Find out how China’s pioneering tech giant, Baidu, has been at the forefront of efforts to deploy its AI-based expertise and technologies to help overcome some of the key challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Intellectual property, innovation, access and COVID-19

  WIPO Director General Francis Gurry reflects on measures that can be undertaken by governments and market actors to enhance innovation performance and, specifically, innovation outcomes that will contribute to the mitigation and, ultimately, the resolution of the COVID-19 crisis.

• Climate action and sustainability: Indigenous peoples are part of the solution

  As the global community focuses on ways to combat the effects of climate change and to transition to a low-carbon future, it must not forget to engage with Indigenous peoples. Find out why this is so important?

• Water quality and inequality

  By 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in areas suffering water stress. Researchers at the University of Birmingham in the UK have developed a desalination solution to treat groundwater in remote inland areas. It works “off-grid,” is powered by renewable energy, and is easy to maintain.

• Bio-engineering: unlocking nature’s treasures

  For Professor Oded Shoseyov, a pioneering materials engineer, serial inventor and entrepreneur, nature is a source of inspiration. He discusses some of his most significant inventions and how IP rights help ensure they are widely accessible to society.

• Climate change: the time to act is now

  Climate change is one of the most urgent and complex challenges of our time. Can humanity’s capacity for creativity and innovation really save the world?

• Airbus: making the blue skies green

  Find out what Airbus, the world’s biggest aircraft manufacturer, is doing to tackle climate change

Featured documents

• Drug repurposing and the COVID-19 pandemic

  The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted worldwide interest in the repurposing of drugs such as remdesivir and dexamethasone. Repurposing can be crucial for delivering new treatments to patients, but also raises a number of IP-related questions....

• Emojis and intellectual property law

  *This article is based on a longer forthcoming paper by Prof. Goldman called Emojis and the Law.
 Everyone loves emojis, and why not? They are a fun and an increasingly ubiquitous way for people to express themselves. But despite their superficial frivolity, emojis can raise potentially complex ...

• Video games and IP: a global perspective
• Climate action and sustainability: Indigenous peoples are part of the solution

  As the global community focuses on ways to combat the effects of climate change and to transition to a low-carbon future, it must not forget to engage with Indigenous peoples. Find out why this is so important?...

• Introducing WIPO PROOF: an interview with Francis Gurry

  WIPO Director General Francis Gurry introduces WIPO PROOF, the latest in the Organization’s suite of IP business services and reflects on the broader issue of data governance and the importance of innovation and creativity in tackling current economic and health challenges....

• The Artificial Inventor Project

  In August 2019, our team (see below) announced two international patent filings for “AI-generated inventions.” That is to say, inventions generated autonomously by an artificial intelligence (AI) under circumstances in which we believe that no natural person, as traditionally defined, qualifies as...

• Video games: computer programs or creative works?
• Worldwide activities on licensing issues relation to standard essential patents

  Thanks to technical standards, modern-day electronic devices are interoperable. Find out how different government agencies around the world are approaching issues surrounding the licensing of patents covering portions of these standards (i.e. standard essential patents (SEPs)....

• Protecting indigenous knowledge: a personal perspective on international negotiations at WIPO

  Ten years ago, WIPO’s member states formally launched negotiations toward developing international legal instruments addressing intellectual property (IP) and genetic resources (GRs), traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs). These negotiations take place in an...

• Water quality and inequality

  By 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in areas suffering water stress. Researchers at the University of Birmingham in the UK have developed a desalination solution to treat groundwater in remote inland areas. It works “off-grid,” is powered by renewable energy, and is easy to...