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IP Office Business Solutions

WIPO’s program of assistance to intellectual property (IP) offices provides business systems for national and regional institutions in developing and least developed countries (LDCs), enabling them to participate effectively in the global IP system. It aims to help IP offices deliver better services to their stakeholders through:

  • online services, including search, registry and filing systems;
  • efficient and standardized business processes for IP administration;
  • integration into regional and international IP systems to enable the digital exchange of data and documents.

IP office support Wiki

Our wiki site provides access to technical documentation on products, specifications and new features developed for and deployed in national IP offices, as well as software repository installation and change documentation. (Authorized users only.)

Access the Wiki

Digital transformation for IP offices

Digital transformation is the process of adopting modern IT technologies such as cloud computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and integrating these into business processes to create new business models or to significantly enhance existing service delivery.

The advances in sophisticated digital technologies have changed the way that IP offices communicate, cooperate and provide services. While many advanced offices have already started the transformation, most offices in developing countries have limited resources and face challenges to adopt digital business services.

WIPO assists IP offices to adopt their own transformation strategies. This requires an overall framework that emphasises not only technical transformation, but equally the legislative, business and operational transformation to support digital business models.

Although the focus of the program is on providing technical tools and services, there needs to be equal emphasis on the legal and business dimensions. This can be achieved with an integrated approach to the transformation of IP office business operations.

Find out more

  • Digital transformation white paper PDF, white paper on digital transformation

Business software solutions for IP offices

All IP offices have similar business processes and face similar challenges in processing applications for IP rights. We provide generic and customizable solutions that support the main business processes including reception, classification, examination, publication, notifications, registration and digitization of all documentation.

Our software solutions are modular and may be used together or integrated with other systems. For example, an office may use the WIPO Suite and integrate it with a national Government online services portal for filing and payment.

All software products are all based on open source technologies and free of license fees. Licenses may be required for the supporting systems software, such as operating systems and database management systems.

  • Find out more about WIPO's IP Office Suite PDF, WIPO IP Office Suite
Graph showing IP offices using Program 15 services

IP offices using Program 15 services

(click to enlarge)

Cooperation framework

Our assistance projects are organized as cooperative projects between WIPO and the IP office. The aim is to assist IP offices to increase their capacities as much as possible using WIPO software solutions and to create projects with long-term sustainability.

Projects are initiated based on a request by the IP office concerned. This is followed by an assessment of the needs, capabilities and suitability of WIPO software solutions for the IP offices. If both parties agree to initiate the project, a project plan is created to clarify the roles and responsibilities, resource requirements and expected outcomes.

What do we do?

WIPO provides for the development, maintenance and support of the software solutions. WIPO also has a network of experts based in Geneva and in all regions of the world to provide on-site assistance, advice and project management services to offices.

Principles

  • The process is demand-driven and starts with a request from an IP institution.
  • An initial assessment determines the suitability of WIPO solutions for the office, and identifies required resources, project strategy and any pre-conditions.
  • A cooperation agreement sets the high-level framework for cooperation.
  • Standard terms and conditions clarify the use of WIPO-provided software solutions.
  • Project management responsibility is shared, and a project plan establishes the roles and responsibilities of WIPO, the IP office, and any external contractors.
  • Both parties commit to providing the necessary resources to execute the project.
  • Infrastructure (servers, networks, etc) is the responsibility of the IP office. WIPO can provide recommendations and technical specifications and can assist the office to seek external funding.
  • WIPO transfers knowledge to the IP office to the extent possible, through on-site training of users and technical staff and through regional workshops that are organized according to demand and available resources.
  • WIPO provides third-level support to offices (software support and maintenance), but first and second-level support (user helpdesk, troubleshooting, local maintenance) must be provided by the office.

Related links

Cooperation

IP databases

IP services

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