The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have launched a new webpage providing comprehensive access to the WIPO-WTO Colloquium Papers.
This is a joint academic effort aimed at stimulating analysis and debate on intellectual property (IP) issues, particularly of interest to developing countries.
The launch marks the 25th anniversary of the bilateral agreement between the two organizations which laid the foundation for cooperation in providing technical assistance to the developing world.
The new webpage provides a complete list of all articles published in the journal WIPO-WTO Colloquium Papers, listed in reverse chronological order from the most recent. The articles can be browsed by title and author or searched according to a keyword, author’s name, title, or full text.
Published annually since 2010 as a peer-reviewed academic journal, the WIPO-WTO Colloquium Papers facilitate the dissemination of a broader and more geographically diverse and representative range of scholarship than is common in much of the academic literature on IP law and policy.
The WTO indicated that they are the result of the colloquium for teachers and researchers in the field of IP, an intensive two-week program jointly organized by WIPO and the WTO that brings together established and emerging scholars from around the world.
Participants present their current research to their peers and are invited to develop and submit their papers for the corresponding annual edition of the WIPO-WTO Colloquium Papers. Since its inception, more than 400 academics, mainly from developing countries and from least developed countries (LDCs), have taken part in this event, spanning a rich and diverse range of scholarly expertise and teaching responsibilities.
The WIPO-WTO Colloquium series was launched to build the capacity of those best placed to ensure truly sustainable, long-term benefits derived from the use of a well-tailored IP system – academic teachers and researchers.
Members of its impressive alumni network are now making invaluable contributions to their field through academic publications, participation in national and international policy debates, teaching, and capacity-building in the developing world.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the session of the colloquium initially scheduled for June 2020 was postponed. However, both the WIPO Academy and the WTO committed to keeping the momentum, particularly at this difficult time, and are making a call for papers from WIPO-WTO Colloquium alumni to issue a special edition of the WIPO-WTO Colloquium Papers (volume 11).
This year also marks the 50th anniversary of WIPO’s establishment, although the institutional roots of WIPO date back to the 19th century when cross-border trade, investment, technology flows, and cultural exchanges made international rules on IP a practical necessity.
The link between IP and international trade was further reinforced and consolidated in 1995 when the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) came into force with the establishment of the WTO, introducing IP rules into the multilateral trading system for the first time.
Since then, the WTO-WIPO cooperation agreement has guided the fruitful joint technical assistance programs between the two organizations.
