WIPO Guide to Intellectual Property Worldwide, Second edition

Note to Readers

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an international intergovernmental organization dedicated to ensuring that the rights of creators and owners of intellectual property are protected worldwide and that inventors and authors are thus recognized and rewarded for their ingenuity. This international protection acts as a spur to human creativity, pushing forward the boundaries of science and technology and enriching the world of literature and the arts. By providing a stable environment for the marketing of intellectual property products, such protection also facilitates international trade.

For more information on the Organization, readers may contact:

The information in this Guide is drawn from data supplied by the governmental administrations of the countries concerned, as well as, in some cases, from WIPO sources, supplemented in parts by information from the World Trade Organization (WTO). The titles of the laws and of the government administrations responsible for intellectual property in English, French and Spanish speaking countries are given, whenever available, in their original language.

The Abbreviations Table gives the  contact addresses and numbers of other organizations, institutions and treaties, which are referred to in the country profiles in their abbreviated form.