Search Reset
Query > English > 2026
WIPO IPC-Green Technology Concordance
A Harmonized Classification Methodology
This paper introduces the World Intellectual Property Organization's Green Technology Inventory for Statistical Use (WIPO–GTIS), a new harmonized methodology for classifying green technologies. Developed through a systematic, consensus-based process, it relies solely on an IPC–Green Technology Concordance Table, validated through AI-assisted quality control, and comprises five sectors and 36 technology fields mapped to specific IPC codes. The paper reviews and compares existing classification systems (CNIPA, EPO, JPO, OECD and WIPO's IPC Green Inventory); presents the WIPO–GTIS methodology and taxonomy; demonstrates its application using global patent data to reveal trends in green technology innovation and specialization; and discusses the classification's limitations and opportunities for future refinement.
Publication year: 2026
Patenting Healthcare-related Inventions: A Guide for IP advisers and managers
Patenting Healthcare-related Inventions provides a reference document for essential stakeholders involved in patenting innovation within the life sciences sector, particularly within the technical fields of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
FRAND Economics
Valuation Methods in Licensing Standard Essential Patents
This economic report highlights how structured valuation approaches can contribute to greater clarity, ensure objectivity, facilitate licensing negotiations as well as dispute resolution, and support balanced incentives for both innovation and implementation in the area of standardized technologies. The report examines how fair, reasonable, and non discriminatory (FRAND) terms for standard essential patent (SEP) licensing can be determined.
Country Perspectives: Colombia's Journey
Colombia's Journey in the "Unlocking IP-backed Financing Series" showcases how the country has built a modern secured transactions framework, explicitly enabling businesses to use their trademarks, software, patents, and other IP rights as collateral to access credit. Drawing on a detailed analysis of national collateral registry data, the report reveals how companies, from multinational pharmaceutical firms leveraging cross-border trademark portfolios to technology startups pledging their proprietary software platforms, are already turning their intangible assets into financing opportunities.
Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs
Regulations (as in force on July 1, 2026) and Administrative Instructions (as in force on July 17, 2025)
The Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs provides a practical business solution for registering up to 100 designs in any of its contracting parties, through the filing of a single international application with WIPO. Management of the resulting international registration is a single-step procedure. The Hague Agreement governs the Hague System.
Hague Yearly Review 2026 - Executive Summary
International Registration of Industrial Designs
This executive brief identifies key trends in the use of the WIPO-administered Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs.
Learning Machines
An introduction to AI and IP for small and medium-sized enterprises
This guide covers key AI concepts including machine learning, neural networks, and generative AI, exploring their relationship with intellectual property rights. It compares international approaches while offering small businesses practical advice on protecting AI systems, using copyrighted material for AI training, and determining whether AI-generated outputs qualify for legal protection.
AI-enabled Health Innovation and IP
From idea to impact
This guide covers key themes in AI-enabled healthcare: intellectual property, commercialization, health data governance and standards, and regulatory pathways. It aims to help innovators navigate the decisions needed to turn AI-driven health solutions into real-world impact.
TISCs Report 2025
Building strong frameworks for innovation support
This annual report of Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) highlights the main developments and milestones in 2025, with a focus on how TISCs in 94 countries continued to expand their services to meet the needs of local innovators, and how WIPO supports them with new resources.
Country Perspectives: Spain's Journey
This report in the Unlocking IP-backed Financing Series examines the IP finance landscape in Spain and identifies possible actions for mainstreaming IP assets as collateral in financing transactions.
Patent Trends Update in GenAI
This WIPO Technology SPARK report provides an updated snapshot of global patenting activity in GenAI, building on the 2024 WIPO Patent Landscape Report on Generative Artificial Intelligence.
World Intangible Investment Highlights 2026
Better Data for Better Business and Policy
Co-published annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Luiss Business School (LBS), this third edition of the World Intangible Investment Highlights presents the latest cross-country statistics on investment in intangible assets such as research and development, software, data, design, brands and organizational know-how. The report covers 29 high- and middle-income economies, including, for the first time, Canada and the Philippines. Drawing on data from the Global INTAN-Invest Database (July 2026 release), this report shows that global intangible investment surpassed USD 10 trillion in 2025, and has been growing more than three times faster than tangible investment since 2008.
The WIPO Academy Portfolio
Global IP Education, Training and Skills Development 2026
This Portfolio serves as a catalogue of all the training opportunities to be offered by the WIPO Academy in 2026 and outlines the content of each course.
Patent Cooperation Treaty Yearly Review 2026 - Executive Summary
The International Patent System
This executive brief identifies the key trends in the use of the WIPO-administered Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and provides a summary of the statistics reported in the PCT Yearly Review 2026.
Patent Cooperation Treaty Yearly Review – 2026
Comprehensive facts, figures and analysis of the international patent system.
IP Adjudication in Nigeria
This title in the Intellectual Property Benchbook Series provides a guide to the judicial management of IP disputes at each stage of adjudication in Nigeria.
Hague Yearly Review 2026
Comprehensive facts, figures and analysis of the international registration of designs.
Madrid Yearly Review 2026 – Executive Summary
International Registration of Marks
This executive brief identifies key trends in the use of the WIPO-administered Madrid System.
Decarbonizing Heavy-Duty Road Transport
Patent Landscape Report
This patent landscape report examines innovation trends in technologies that enable the decarbonization of heavy-duty road transport, analyzing patent data from 2000 to 2024 across four core technology areas: low-emission energy sources (batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, hybrids, and alternative fuels), energy infrastructure, vehicle efficiency, and green digitalization.
Guide to the International Patent Classification (2026)
This Guide provides information on the objectives, history and reform of the International Patent Classification (IPC) as well as assistance in the use of the IPC.
Sports Technology
This WIPO Technology SPARK report examines sports innovation through the lens of IP analytics. By analyzing patents, trademarks and designs, the report reveals patterns of inventive activity, commercialization and design-led differentiation.
Madrid Yearly Review 2026
Comprehensive facts, figures and analysis of the international registration of marks.
WIPO Collection of Leading Judgments on Intellectual Property Rights
People's Republic of China (2019–2023)
This casebook of judgments by the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China in the WIPO Collection of Leading Judgments on Intellectual Property Rights series covers decisions rendered between 2019 and 2023. The WIPO Collection gives the global intellectual property community access to landmark judgments from some of the most dynamic litigation jurisdictions of the world, through a succession of volumes that illustrate intellectual property adjudication approaches and trends by jurisdiction or by theme.
Guidelines for Esports Players
Guidelines for Esports Players address the growing number of professional esports players worldwide who face IP challenges. As players compete individually or in teams, they must balance optimizing their own IP rights management while avoiding infringement of rights held by tournament organizers, video game publishers, and other industry stakeholders. Explore the companion publications: Intellectual Property and Esports: An overview of the game and Guidelines for Esports Tournament Organizers.
Guidelines for Esports Tournament Organizers
These guidelines are intended to help tournament organizers understand intellectual property (IP) rights related to the uses of video games in esports. They provide a step-by-step guide on how to obtain all the necessary rights for participating in tournaments and developing business models in this sector. Explore the companion publications: Intellectual Property and Esports: An overview of the game and Guidelines for Esports Players.
Intellectual Property and Esports: An overview of the game
IP and Esports examines the intersection of IP and gaming. As competitive gaming attracts fan engagement and produces international superstar players, questions arise about how this emerging sport relates to existing IP frameworks and business models. This publication identifies key stakeholders in esports and explains the building blocks of the industry. It provides essential insights into how intellectual property impacts professional players, teams, video game publishers, tournament organizers, and sponsors. Explore the companion publications: Guidelines for Esports Tournament Organizers and Guidelines for Esports Players.
Common Knowledge? Gender Differences in IP Rights Awareness
Economic Research Working Paper No. 100
This paper examines gender disparities in intellectual property (IP) awareness and participation, using the 2023 and 2025 waves of the WIPO Pulse Survey conducted among 58,135 individuals across seventy-four countries. Our findings reveal that copyrights are the most recognized IP forms globally, while patents, trademarks and geographical indications remain the least familiar. At the individual level, women demonstrate lower knowledge of patents and trademarks, but greater knowledge of designs and copyrights compared to men, with these differences persisting after controlling for socioeconomic factors. These patterns are consistent with gendered specialization in education, professional and household spheres where women tend to cluster in creative industries while men dominate entrepreneurship and technical sectors. Notably, we observe a cohort effect: while we identify significant differences in knowledge between men and women for older cohorts, these disappear among younger cohorts. We do not observe comparable changes by level of education or occupation of respondents. Moreover, women exhibit more positive attitudes towards IP-protected products across categories. These findings highlight the need for targeted awareness campaigns and reveal that gendered patterns of IP knowledge may contribute to innovation gender gaps through educational pathways and professional specialization.
Development and Pitching of Audiovisual Projects: A guide for independent filmmakers
Development and Pitching of Audiovisual Projects: A guide for independent filmmakers looks at the most important elements to take into consideration when developing and pitching audiovisual projects to secure financing and distribution. It outlines the journey from initial idea to structured project, emphasizing three key elements: artistic, financial, and legal considerations.
Rights Clearance: A guide for independent filmmakers
Rights Clearance: A guide for independent filmmakers will help filmmakers to understand and incorporate rights clearance in their concepts, development planning and productions with special attention to IP rights. With practical steps, the process of rights clearance can start as early as possible to avoid pitfalls and complex licensing issues during the later stages of the production.
Guide to the Copyright and Related Rights Treaties Administered by WIPO
Second edition
This new edition of the Guide to the Copyright and Related Rights Treaties Administered by WIPO is the most authoritative publication on WIPO's copyright treaties. The publication presents an updated legal commentary on all eight WIPO copyright and related rights treaties, adding the two newest (Beijing Treaty and Marrakesh Treaty). It includes background information as well as article by article explanation on, and interpretation of, each instrument, particularly in relation to new technological developments. The publication provides key information and guidelines to a large audience, for example, policy makers, government officials, legal practitioners, judges, scholars, academics and students.
Measuring IP Finance and Investment in the Music Industry
Economic Research Working Paper No. 99
This quantitative study examines how music IP rights are transforming into a global financial asset class, which is having an impact on artists and music ecosystems worldwide. New investors and digital platforms are changing the way creative works and rights are valued and monetised across diverse cultural contexts. By providing empirical evidence of these dynamics and identifying key stakeholders via the data, the study can help inform policymakers and potential changes to IP and other legal frameworks. The research draws on new data sources and original analyses of the latest trends in news media coverage and investment in music rights technology, as well as daily return data from rights trading platforms and information from official IP data sources.
IP Finance in the Music Industry
Economic Research Working Paper No. 98
This qualitative study looks at the transformation of music IP rights into a global financial asset class, which affects artists and music ecosystems worldwide, from K-pop markets in South Korea to legacy rock catalogues in the United States, regardless of genre. New investors and digital platforms have emerged and reshape how creative works and rights are valued and monetized across diverse cultural contexts. It seems crucial for policymakers to understand market opportunities and potential risk as well as identify key stakeholders in order to ensure that IP frameworks provide a sustainable economic foundation for the next generation of creative talent. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with industry experts and artists, case studies, and extensive desk research, this study explores the policy implications and economics of music rights trading and investment.
Digital transformations in developing economies: From the first-mile infrastructure to the end-user finger tips
Economic Research Working Paper No. 96
This paper reviews the concepts, mechanisms, and empirical evidence on the diffusion of digital technologies (DTs) in developing economies, focusing on the distinct infrastructural layers of connectivity—from first-mile submarine cables to last-mile mobile and broadband networks. It examines how infrastructure gaps, usage disparities, and technological divides shape digitalization pathways and their socio-economic impacts, with a particular emphasis on lower-income regions like Sub-Saharan Africa. The analysis highlights how submarine cables reduce connectivity costs and expand Internet access, yet also reveals uneven benefits due to limited absorptive capacity and new digital vulnerabilities. By synthesizing evidence on rural mobile coverage, urban Internet spillovers, and trade integration, the paper emphasizes the need for coordinated policies to bridge digital divides and foster inclusive digital transformation.
Diffusion of Clean Technologies: Patterns, Mechanisms, and Future Challenges
Economic Research Working Paper No. 95
This paper examines the patterns and mechanisms of global clean technology diffusion over the last two decades. We document four stylized facts: uneven sectoral progress favoring power and light transport; China's dominance in innovation and manufacturing; the role of modularity in driving cost declines; and limited adoption in developing economies. Through case studies of solar, electric vehicles, and hydrogen, we analyze how policy and infrastructure enable scale. Finally, we assess emerging challenges for the next phase of diffusion, including critical mineral constraints, artificial intelligence, and geopolitical fragmentation.
Understanding Technology Diffusion in the Agricultural Sector
Economic Research Working Paper No. 94
The paper introduces the basic concepts related to adoption, diffusion and innovation in the agricultural sector. This paper introduces relevant definitions and issues, examines conceptual models of technology diffusion in agriculture, followed by a description of the process of technology discovery. The paper furthermore explores the channels and mechanisms of diffusion, the factors influencing adoption, the adaptation of technologies to local contexts, empirical studies illustrating innovation and diffusion patterns, the role of government policies and international organizations, and the impact of technology diffusion on agricultural productivity, sustainable development, and food security and livelihoods. The paper then discusses innovation and diffusion of agricultural biotechnologies and precision agricultural technologies by summarizing the experiences and lessons learned from insect resistant and herbicide tolerant maize, insect resistant cotton and precision agriculture technologies in a selected set of countries. The paper draws up policy lessons and recommendations that may be useful to policy and decision makers considering such technologies in their jurisdiction.
Diffusion of Genetically Modified Crop Technology
Economic Research Working Paper No. 93
Technology diffusion is central to the process of innovation, as new products or processes must be adopted for them to make meaningful contributions to societal welfare or economic growth. We focus here on the global diffusion of technology that has the potential to improve food insecurity and address challenges posed by climatic effects, genetically modified (GM) crops. We adopt a variety of sources and methods to demonstrate the reach and timing of genetically modified crop technology diffusion worldwide, relying primarily on national regulatory approval information. Specifically, we depict the international adoption of genetically modified crop technology over time and assess the rate at which GM cotton, maize, and soybeans have been adopted within countries. In addition, we examine two case studies that assess an underused information source—trademark data—to determine whether they provide an alternative measure of diffusion. The case studies focus on two different contexts: established branded technologies and nascent technologies. In addition to significant overlap with regulatory approval data for established branded technologies, trademarks appear to provide an indicator of pre-commercialization in countries where regulatory approval coverage can expand. We end with guidance on when trademarks may serve as an indicator of international technology diffusion.
The Changing Geography of the International Diffusion of Technological Knowledge
Economic Research Working Paper No. 92
This paper examines the evolving geography of international technological knowledge diffusion over the last four decades using multiple patent-based indicators. We first review the main mechanisms through which knowledge diffuses across borders—including trade and global value chains, foreign direct investment, skilled migration, global science, and markets for technology—highlighting their complementarities and the role of domestic capabilities. We then provide new empirical evidence based on cross-border patent citations, technological trajectories defined by IPC recombinations, patent-to-science linkages, and international patent families. The results reveal persistent asymmetries, with a small group of advanced economies remaining central knowledge hubs, alongside the rising role of emerging countries, especially China. Science-based technologies diffuse farther and faster, while capability constraints continue to limit integration for many regions.
How Do New Technologies Diffuse?
Economic Research Working Paper No. 91
Technology diffusion is central to economic development. This paper examines diffusion patterns for 31 technologies for 139 countries over two centuries, extending existing databases to include recent digital technologies and renewable energy technologies. Using cross-country panel regressions, we find that while adoption lags have declined from 50 years (pre-1950) to 15 years (post-2000), adoption intensity in developing economies remains at 53% of advanced economy levels. We document diverging intensity for older technologies but emerging convergence for post-2000 technologies, suggesting digital innovations may reduce the technology gap. These findings inform policies aimed at accelerating technology diffusion to developing economies.
World Intellectual Property Report 2026: Technology on the Move - Executive Summary
This Executive Summary highlights the key findings of WIPO's flagship World Intellectual Property Report 2026.The World Intellectual Property Report 2026 reveals striking patterns in how technologies spread globally, with profound implications for economic development.
World Intellectual Property Report 2026: Technology on the Move
Pushing the world's technological frontier by inventing new and better technologies is a necessary condition for long-term growth. For new and better technologies to raise economic productivity, they need to be widely adopted and used in the economy. Technology diffusion is a central part of the innovation journey. This report explores how different technologies diffuse within and across economies globally and the role of innovation ecosystems to foster it.
Innovation Capabilities Outlook 2026
This inaugural edition presents groundbreaking analytical methodology using patents, trademarks, publications, and exports data to comprehensively map global capability networks and systematically examine strategic diversification pathways for worldwide innovation ecosystems. Innovation Capabilities Outlook 2026 establishes a global baseline for innovation ecosystem analysis.
The Future is Under the Glass: Digital Design Protection and Appropriation Strategy
Economic Research Working Paper No. 97
The paper examines how legal certainty shapes protection and appropriation of digital designs such as icons, animations, and layouts. Leveraging the 2012 Apple v. Samsung verdict as a decisive clarification of their protectability and enforceability, we analyze USPTO design patents from 2009–2015 using a matched difference-in-differences approach. We show that legal certainty reduces due diligence costs far more than monitoring costs. This asymmetry lowers the threshold for securing protection, leading to a 9 percent increase in digital design patents. At the same time, appropriation shifted away from licensing toward transfers, with the effect strongest in dense design spaces where monitoring costs remain high despite increased legal certainty. These findings extend transaction cost theory by showing that legal certainty unevenly reduces transaction costs, which in turn alters protection thresholds and shifts appropriation strategies. They also demonstrate how policy changes influence innovation when value is created “under the glass.”.
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
Regulations under the PCT (as in force from January 1, 2026)
The Patent Cooperation Treaty makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries by filing an "international" patent application. Such an application may be filed by anyone who is a national or a resident of a Contracting State.
The Technological Potential of Innovation Ecosystems: An Inter-Dimensional Network Approach
Economic Research Working Paper No. 90
In developing countries' innovation activities, limited patenting suggests structural gaps that hinder technological progress. This paper investigates whether countries can leverage their scientific and productive capabilities to realize untapped technological potential. We analyze connections between trade, science, and technology across global innovation ecosystems and introduce an indicator to assess where countries are positioned to expand their technological capabilities. Our results show that the indicator predicts technological output growth, though growth slows when countries exceed their predicted potential, indicating diminishing returns. The indicator performs better in more complex ecosystems. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, offering a framework to address weaknesses in innovation ecosystems and foster balanced, sustainable technological development.