Brief History of the First 25 Years of the World Intellectual Property Organization

This is an essay recounting the main events in the history of BIRPI and WIPO during the 25 years that have elapsed since the signature of the treaty which established the World Intellectual Property Organization. That signature took place in Stockholm on July 14, 1967. BIRPI was the predecessor of WIPO. BIRPI was in existence, under various names, from 1883 (when the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property created the International Bureau) to 1970 (when the treaty establishing WIPO went into effect). In order to place the 25 years in a historical context, the essay does, exceptionally, deal also with pre-1967 events and with post-1992 possibilities. The history of those 25 years was made-as is all history-by individuals. The individuals comprise, first of all, the delegates of the Governments of the member countries: it is they who decide what WIPO should do and it is they who control whether what they decided was carried out. The representatives, in WIPO-convened meetings, of the private sector are also among the history-making individuals: the private sector consists of the world of inventors, authors, composers and artists, of industry and commerce disseminating or otherwise using inventions, literary and artistic works; industrial designs and trademarks as well as of "the profession," that is, the lawyers who protect their clients' interests in the field of intellectual property.