Base: Geneva
Coverage:
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the United Nations.
Need help with IP matters in these countries? Email the IP attaché your specific concerns.
Marina Lamm
IP Attaché
Watch Marina Lamm discuss her work in representing the United States at meetings of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva.
Mailing Address
Department of State
5120 Geneva Place
Washington, DC 20521-5120
Office Location and Phone
U.S. Permanent Mission to the United Nations
Economic and Science Affairs Section
11 Route de Pregny
1292 Chambesy
Geneva, Switzerland
Office Phone: +41 76-452-7456
Coverage:
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Need help with IP matters in these countries? Email the IP attaché your specific concerns.
Helene Liwinski,
IP Attaché
Watch Helene Liwinski explain the importance of U.S. representation at the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization.
Mailing Address
Unit 5120 #2415
DPO AE 09845-2415
Office Location and Phone
U.S. Mission to the World Trade Organization
11, Route de Pregny
1292 Chambesy
Geneva, Switzerland
Office Phone: +41 22-749-5281
Learn more about WIPO and the WTO
The World Intellectual Property Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO)
The system’s overriding purpose is to help trade flow as freely as possible — so long as there are no undesirable side effects — because this is important for economic development and well-being. That partly means removing obstacles. It also means ensuring that individuals, companies, and governments know what the trade rules are around the world, and giving them the confidence that there will be no sudden changes of policy. In other words, the rules have to be transparent and predictable.
WTO also administers the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, which came into effect on January 1, 1995, and is to date the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property. The areas of intellectual property that it covers are: copyright and related rights (i.e.,the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings, and broadcasting organizations); trademarks, including service marks; geographical indications, including appellations of origin; industrial designs; patents, including the protection of new varieties of plants; the layout-designs of integrated circuits; and undisclosed information including trade secrets and test data. The Council for TRIPS is the body, open to all members of the WTO, that is responsible for administering the TRIPS Agreement, in particular monitoring the operation of the Agreement (Article 68). The TRIPS Council also meets in “special sessions”. Sessions to negotiate a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits. In addition to setting minimum standards concerning the availability, scope, and use of intellectual property rights in these areas, the TRIPS Agreement also addresses enforcement of intellectual property rights, dispute prevention and settlement, and other matters.
Related Links
- Mission of the United States Geneva Switzerland
- The World Intellectual Property Organization
- The World Trade Organization
- WIPO Lex is an electronic database which provides access to intellectual property (IP) laws and treaties of the members of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the United Nations (UN).
- Overview: The TRIPS agreement
- Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights