WIPONET, the Global Information Network of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is Given a Green Light

Geneva, June 29, 1998
Press Updates UPD/1998/26

Last week, WIPO's Standing Committee on Information Technologies endorsed measures to establish the WIPO Global Information Network (known as the WIPONET). The Standing Committee, comprised of the member States of WIPO and certain international governmental and non-governmental organizations, agreed that a suitable contractor to implement the technical aspects of the project should be identified through an international tendering procedure that will commence in December 1998, and that a Task Force of technical experts should be formed, during the second half of 1998, to assist WIPO in determining the technical requirements of this major project.

This initiative will provide network services to intellectual property offices worldwide and will facilitate the rapid exchange of data between these offices. In the long run, it is envisaged that the WIPONET will also serve as a framework by which intellectual property offices across the globe are able to propose, discuss and implement innovative ideas for the effective use of information technology to promote the protection of intellectual property.

This is the first global project to be undertaken by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) using information technology. The decision to establish this major communications framework was taken by the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO in March 1998. The member States approved a budget of some 22 million Swiss francs for this project for the years 1998 and 1999. WIPONET is an invaluable communications tool designed to satisfy the growing demand for both general and specialized information services by the global intellectual property community and the public.

WIPONET is designed to make optimal use of recent technological developments and existing communications infrastructures to provide network services to each participating intellectual property office by the end of the biennium (1999).

WIPONET will play two major roles. On the one hand, it will serve to strengthen the collective efforts of Member States to create high-quality, high-value information collections which are easily, yet securely, accessible on the network via Intellectual Property Digital Libraries (IPDLs). On the other hand, it will serve as an important vehicle for the dissemination of published intellectual property information to previously unserved communities such as the public, universities, research and development institutions, and copyright users.

It will be based on the existing public Internet, which provides at least basic levels of connectivity to most countries. Where necessary, WIPO will extend connectivity to intellectual property offices lacking the required infrastructural capability. Given the confidential nature of some types of intellectual property data, WIPONET will also include a component similar to many corporate "virtual private networks" to ensure secure, private communications.

In its initial phase, WIPONET will provide three key services. First, the provision of data through Intellectual Property Digital Libraries. A prototype IPDL, which provides a comprehensive search facility enabling users to access selected data relating to international applications published under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), came into operation earlier this year. Second, electronic filing by the public of international patent applications filed under the PCT. This facility will provide for the secured transmission of confidential text and image data contained in international patent applications. Third, distance learning facilities offered under the WIPO global training program (known as the WIPO Worldwide Academy) for intellectual property offices and the intellectual property community. It is foreseen that major improvements to WIPO's services in the field of cooperation for development will be generated as a result of the establishment of a coordinated Internet-based communications network incorporating new distance learning, collaborative development and video-conferencing technologies. These services will be particularly useful in distributing information and services to developing countries.

In the course of its development and deployment, WIPONET will be constantly upgraded and developed to offer a full suite of relevant and useful services to members of the intellectual property community worldwide. Moreover, it will become a tool through which the intellectual property community can launch a series of new initiatives using modern information technologies. Full deployment of the network, in terms of connectivity with the intellectual property offices of member states, will begin in April 1999.

More detailed information on this and other IT-related projects may be obtained from the WIPO Web site under the section entitled "SCIT" on the WIPO Home page (https://www.wipo.int/it/en/projects/wiponet.htm). Further details may also be obtained from Mr. Yo Takagi, Director, Inter-Office Information Services Department, WIPO: