Info Sources | Listservs and E-Journals | IGOs | IP Offices | NGOs and Research Institutions | Universities and Institutes

Information Sources

• Commission on Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR) has been set up by the British government to look at how intellectual property rights can work better for poor people and developing countries. This website is intended as a means of communicating the work of the Commission and, equally important, as a means by which those interested in intellectual property issues and developing countries can communicate their views to the Commission.
  
  
• Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes (CSPO) is an intellectual network aimed at enhancing the contribution of science and technology to society's pursuit of equality, justice, freedom, and overall quality of life. The Consortium creates knowledge and methods, cultivates public discourse, and fosters policies to help decision makers and institutions grapple with the immense power and importance of science and technology as society charts a course for the future.

  
  
• Copy South Project: Ongoing Annotated Online Bibliography, in coordination with Kent Law School, has assembled a team of researches and 'front line practitioners' who are experts in access to knowledge issues in countries of the South. Produced is a dossier that will be freely available for download from the web and distributed at conferences. This dossier will provide detailed and graphic examples of how intellectual property laws, regimes, and values systematically hinder and block access to many spheres of knowledge.
  

• 3D -> Trade - Human Rights - Equitable Economy promotes collaboration amongst trade, development and human rights professionals, to ensure that trade rules are developed and applied in ways that promote an equitable economy.


• Delphion is an Intellectual Property Network. Moreover, Delphion intellectual asset management solutions empower business and intellectual property (IP) professionals to analyze, manage and leverage intellectual property assets - including ideas, patents and licensing opportunities - to generate new levels of revenue and profitability from R&D investments and IP portfolios.
  
  
• D.P.I. & Mercado is a webportal in Spanish with information about how to use intellectual property tools for commercialization and marketing purposes.
• Egyptian Center for Intellectual Property and Information Technology (ECIPIT) is an NGO working in the field of spreading awareness of IPR, and exploitation of IT to serve the aim of development. ECIPIT has cooperation relationships with many governmental and non-governmental parties and organizations, on the local level as well as the global one.
  
  
• Eldis Resource Centre on IPRs is a gateway to information on development issues, providing free and easy access to wide range of high quality online resources.
• esp@cenet network gives free patent information. esp@cenet is a free service on the internet provided by the European Patent Organisation through the EPO and the national offices of its members states.
  
  
• European Community Access and Benefit-sharing Portal aims to help the EC achieving the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It contain information on EC policy and legislative measures related to ABS as well as links to web pages of international organisations active in this field.
  
  
• Franklin Pierce Law Center Intellectual Property Mall is an internationally acclaimed Intellectual Property resource Website providing information and links to the most valuable online resources in the world. The IP Mall links to a unique collection of intellectual property resources served up by the Franklin Pierce Law Center (without exception continuously ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top five IP law schools in the country ), as well as hundreds of others on the Internet.
  


• GeographicaIndications.com. Through this website, those interested in learning more about the topics of protection of geographical indications will find information about the use of names that point to a specific geographic place. It provides links to relevant rules in the US, the EU and other countries, and also to regimes of international organisations such as WIPO and WTO.
  
  
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is a website designed to make the world's primary data on biodiversity freely and universally available via the Internet. GBIF attempts to increase the utility, availability and completeness of primary scientific biodiversity information available on the Internet.
  
  

• International Portal of the University of Alicante on Intellectual Property & Information Society is an international legal portal specializing in industrial and intellectual property law promoted by the professors of the Area of International Private Law of the Law Faculty of the University of Alicante. It is directed to researchers, students, and professionals in the world of Intellectual and Industrial Property and Information Society.
  
  

• IP4Development Research project funded by the European Commision on the Implications of the IPR Rules for Sustainable Development carried out by Queen Mary, University of London working jointly with Ecologic, Universidad de Alicante, IP Bulgaria, the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the University of Warwick.
  
  

• IP Menu is a website that provides resources and articles pretaining to recent and regional IP issues.
  
  

• IP Watchdog is The Source for Intellectual Property, Internet & Antitrust Law™. The pages of IPWatchdog.com provide a free resource to a wealth of information on virtually every topic associated with Intellectual Property.
  
  

• IPR-Helpdesk. The main objective of the IPR-Helpdesk is to assist potential and current contractors taking part in Community funded research and technological development projects on intellectual property rights (IPR) issues. The IPR-Helpdesk advises also on Community diffusion and protection rules and other issues relating to IPR in international research projects. Another more global objective of the action is to raise awareness of the European research community on IPR issues, emphasising their European dimension.
  
  

• Literature survey on intellectual property rights and sustainable human development (January 2003)
• Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre's mission is to facilitate and conduct advanced research into all aspects of Intellectual Property, particularly the proper role of intellectual property in the light of the new technologies.
  
  
• Patenting Lives Research project hosted by the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute, University of London. The project gathers together interdisciplinary experts to consider intellectual property protections and restrictions on life forms, and particularly the impact on developing and least developed countries.
  
  
  
• Portal Grupo de Propiedad Intelectual (GPI). En el este sitio web podrá encontrar noticias, artículos, enlaces y otro contenido que se considera de interés para los profesionales en el área de propiedad intelectual. Este sitio web ha sido creado por un grupo de profesionales uruguayos y es mantenido por colaboradores y autores de todo el mundo, que desean intercambiar información a traves de estas páginas.


• La Red de Indicadores de Ciencia y Tecnología -Iberoamericana e Interamericana- (RICYT), de la que participan todos los países de América, junto con España y Portugal, fue constituida por el Programa Iberoamericano de Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo (CYTED) a partir de una propuesta surgida del Primer Taller Iberoamericano sobre Indicadores de Ciencia y Tecnología realizado en Argentina a fines de 1994. Su puesta en marcha se hizo efectiva a fines de abril de 1995.
  


• SciDev.Net is a free-access, Internet-based network devoted to reporting on and discussing those aspects of modern science and technology that are relevant to sustainable development and the social and economic needs of developing countries. SciDev.Net seeks to empower both individuals and communities in developing countries, increasing their ability to ensure the effective contribution of science and technology to sustainable development, and thus to the general improvement of health and economic well-being.
• Science, Technology and Innovation Research Programme at the Center for International Development (Harvard University)
  
  
• SICE, the Foreign Trade Information System, makes available information about hemispheric integration and trade trends. This portion of the site relates specifically to Intellectual property.
  
  
• Stockholm Network, IP and Competition Programme. The Stockholm Network Intellectual Property and Competition Programme was established in January 2005 and aims to achieve four key objectives:First, to make the field of intellectual property more mainstream and accessible to the general public. Second, to increase the interaction between specialists focusing on different aspects of intellectual property rights. Third, to encourage discussion, as well as debates, on different burning IP issues. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, to promote European competitiveness.

  
  
• USINFO.STATE.GOV, the US Department of State website makes available news and information pertaining to intellectual property in the United States. It was created for key international audiences, such as the media, government officials, opinion leaders, and the general public in more than 140 countries around the world
  
• US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) administers the laws relating to patents and trademark; advises the Secretary of Commerce, the President of the United States, and the administration on patent, trademark, and copyright protection; advises the Secretary of Commerce, the President of the United States, and the Administration on the trade-related aspects of intellectual property. "
  

Listservs and Electronic Journals
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• European Intellectual Property Review is the leading international journal in the intellectual property field, offering comprehensive coverage and analysis of new developments and crucial litigation.
  
  
• FAO-BiotechNews deals with the implications and importance of agricultural biotechnology for food security, sustainable use of biodiversity, the environment and food safety. It also covers the socio-economical, policy, technical, legal (including intellectual property rights) and ethical aspects of agricultural biotechnology. Also available in French (FAO-BiotechNews-Fr) and Spanish (FAO-BiotechNews-Esp).
• GRAIN’s Bio-IPR listserver
  
  
• Innovation Strategy Today Electronic journal from bioDevelopments-International Institute which focuses on international development and innovation in agriculture, the environment and health.
  
  
• International Journal of Biotechnology, Science, Technology and Innovation Program - Harvard University. This journal provides an international forum and refereed authoritative source of information in the field of Biotechnology and Biotechnics, with emphasis on management and economics, as well as the political and the social issues. It aims to disseminate knowledge; provide a learned reference in the field; and establish channels of communication between academic and research experts, policy makers and executive in industry, commerce and investment institutions.
  
• Internet Patent News Service helps the people who are a victim of the patents, or want to make sure they don't victimize others with patents of dubious validity.
• IP Health contains documents on Intellectual Property and Health Care.
  
  
• IP menu is a new, worldwide Internet directory system aimed at users and researchers working in the intellectual property field. The system is designed in a hierarchical fashion with indexes by country or property type (eg patent, trade mark etc). The system also includes features such as the IP Conference and IP Office Holiday Calenders.
  
  
• IP Strategy Today Electronic journal from bioDevelopments-International Institute, with emphasis on biotechnology and access by developing countries to proprietary technologies in agriculture, the environment and health.
  
  
• RAFI/ETC News Service. ETC group is dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights. To this end, ETC group supports socially responsible developments of technologies useful to the poor and marginalized and it addresses international governance issues and corporate power.

• WIIPO's Intellectual Property Digital Library provides access to intellectual property data collections hosted by the World Intellectual Property Organization. These collections include PCT (Patents), Madrid (Trademarks), Hague (Industrial Designs), Article 6ter (State Emblems, Official Hallmarks, and Emblems of Intergovernmental Organizations) among others

Intergovernmental Organisations
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• African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the use and protection of works of the human spirit. These works – intellectual property – are expanding the bounds of science and technology and enriching the world of the arts. Through its work, OAPI plays an important role in enhancing the quality and enjoyment of life, as well as creating real wealth for nations.

• African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO)

• Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) aims to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region, and to promote regional peace and stability. Its members include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

• Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) is a permanent forum where governments discuss and negotiate matters relevant to genetic resources for food and agriculture. The main objectives of the CGRFA are to ensure the conservation and sustainable utilization of genetic resources for food and agriculture, as well the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their use, for present and future generations. The Commission aims to reach international consensus on areas of global interest, through negotiations.
• Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH) established by the World Health Assembly in 2003. The purpose of this web site is to share information and knowledge regularly with all those interested in intellectual property rights, innovation and public health. We will be launching a new web site at the end of April with a new look that reflects the individual identity of the Commission.

• Conference of the Parties on the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP) is the governing body of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and expedites implementation of the Convention through the decisions it makes at its periodic meetings. The COP has recently become very active in seeking recognition of the principles of the CBD in other international forums, including the WIPO and the WTO.
  
  
• European Seed Association (ESA) is the voice of the European seed industry, representing the interests of those active in research, breeding, production and marketing of seeds of agricultural, horticultural and ornamental plant species.

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was founded in 1945 with a mandate to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living, to improve agricultural productivity, and to better the condition of rural populations. Today, FAO is one of the largest specialized agencies in the United Nations system and the lead agency for agriculture, forestry, fisheries and rural development. An intergovernmental organization, FAO has 183 member countries plus one member organization, the European Community. Biotechnology in Food and Agriculture
• International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is an international organization where governments and the private sector can coordinate global telecom networks and services.
• International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) is an intergovernmental organization with headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland). It is based on the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, as revised since its signature in Paris on December 2, 1961. The objective of the Convention is the protection of new varieties of plants by an intellectual property right.
• Project on Dispute Settlement in International Trade, Investment and Intellectual Property (UNCTAD). This project aims to help building a permanent capacity in developing countries - in particular, the least developed countries (LDCs) - and countries with economies in transition for dispute settlement in international trade, investment and intellectual property.
  

• Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Website
  
  
• South Centre has grown out of the work and experience of the South Commission and its follow-up office, and from recognition of the need for enhanced South-South co-operation. It is intended to meet the need for analysis of development problems and experience, as well as to provide intellectual and policy support required by developing countries for collective and individual action in the international arena.
  
  
• Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions. Intergovernmental Committee: Documentation Center (grouped by Session)
  
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body, UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment and development issues. The main goals are to maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis.
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Science and Technology for Development Network (STDev). The STDev is designed as a gateway to science and technology for development with continuously updated information on best practices, partnering, networking and financing opportunities for science and technology. It will also provide succinct diplomacy briefings on important science and technology issues to diplomats and policy-makers to assist them in international negotiations involving science and technology in international fora, particularly those that take place at the World Trade Organization.

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN agency for the promotion of development. It undertakes global and regional advocacy and analysis to increase knowledge, share best practices, build partnerships, mobilize resources and promote enabling frameworks including international targets for reducing poverty.
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The main objective of UNESCO is to contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture and communication in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations. UNESCO has a long tradition in the protection of culture and folklore. There are several international legal texts signed under the auspices of UNESCO and relating to intellectual property. These include the Universal Convention on Copyrights (1952) the Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore (1989), and the Model Law for the Protection of Folklore elaborated jointly with WIPO.

• United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) works to encourage sustainable development by way of sound environmental practices. Its activities cover a wide range of issues, from the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems, the promotion of environmental science and information, to an early warning and emergency response capacity to deal with environmental disasters and emergencies. UNEP has an Economics and Trade Programme (ETP), which seeks to clarify the relationship among trade, environment and development in order to design mutually supportive policies.

• United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (UNHCHR) promotes universal enjoyment of all human rights by giving practical effect to the will and resolve of the world community as expressed by the United Nations. It plays the leading role on human rights issues and emphasizes the importance of human rights at the international and national levels . The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights is the principle UN body that administers the UN human rights treaties.

• United Nations on Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a UN agency committed to helping developing countries and those in transition to accelerate their industrial development, while meeting social and environmental challenges.

• World Health Organization The World Health Organisation, the United Nations specialised agency for health, was established on 7 April 1948. WHO's objective, as set out in its Constitution, is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Health is defined in WHO's Constitution as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. WHO is governed by 192 Member States through the World Health Assembly. The WHO section on globalisation, trade and health.
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the use and protection of works of the human spirit. These works - intellectual property - are expanding the bounds of science and technology and enriching the world of the arts. Through its work, WIPO plays an important role in enhancing the quality and enjoyment of life, as well as creating real wealth for nations.
  
  
• World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
  
  
• World Trade Organization - TRIPS and IP issues
  

Intellectual Property Offices
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• Directory of National and Regional Industrial Property Offices (by WIPO).

• Directory of National Copyright Administrations (by WIPO).

Non-governmental Organisations and Research Institutions
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International | Africa | Asia | Latin America

International

• Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC), formerly Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), is dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights. To this end, ETC group supports socially responsible developments of technologies useful to the poor and marginalized and it addresses international governance issues and corporate power.
  

• Bioresources Development & Conservation Programme (BDCP) is a non-for-profit, non-governmental, knowledge based organization dedicated to creating innovative mechanisms for sustainable development that encompass the interface between health and the environment. The goal is to provide communities with the tools and information they need to preserve their self-sufficiency in an increasingly industrialized world, while retaining as much of their cultural framework as possible.
  
  

Biological Innovation for Open Society (BIOS) is an initiative that will develop and validate a new means for the cooperative invention, improvement and delivery of biological technologies, drawing inspiration from the open source software movement to forge a 'protected commons' of knowledge and technology.

• Call of the Earth: Ancient Wisdom for Sustaining Culture, Livelihoods and Environments - a new, independent Indigenous Peoples' initiative on intellectual property policy.
• Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) is a public interest, not-for-profit environmental law firm founded in 1989 to strengthen international and comparative environmental law and policy around the world. CIEL provides a full range of environmental legal services in both international and comparative national law, including: policy research and publication, advice and advocacy, education and training, and institution building.
• Center for the Management of IP in Health R&D (MIHR)'s concern is with health in the developing countries and among the poor. It seeks to find constructive ways to promote collaboration among all sectors involved in improving access to needed drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and other important health technologies.
• Center for the Public Domain (CPD), a philanthropic foundation based in Durham, North Carolina, is dedicated to the preservation of a healthy and robust public domain . Its work is based on the conviction that new legal regimes, social institutions and transparent technologies must be created to reinforce the information commons. The Center uses as a slogan the famous Abraham Lincoln phrase: "Whenever there is a conflict between human rights and property rights, the former must prevail".
  
  
• Centre for the Application of Molecular Biology to International Agriculture (CAMBIA) is an international, independent non-profit research institute pioneering Biological Open Source (BiOS) and Informatics to support Patent Transparency. For more than a decade, CAMBIA has been creating new enabling tools to foster innovation and a spirit of collaboration in the life sciences.
  
• Consumer Project on Technology (CPT) focuses on issues concerning the production of and access to knowledge, including medical inventions, information and cultural goods, and other knowledge goods. Much of this work concerns intellectual property policy and practices, as well as different approaches to the production of knowledge goods and new incentive systems for investments in medical and agricutural inventions.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) "is a group of passionate people — lawyers, volunteers, and visionaries — working in the trenches, battling to protect your rights and the rights of web surfers everywhere. The dedicated people of EFF challenge legislation that threatens to put a price on what is invaluable; to control what must remain boundless".
• Environnement et Développement Durable (Envirodev). Ce site portail mobilise un réseau durable et actif sur les enjeux actuels de l'économie de l'environnement. Il constitue un système d'information solidaire francophone sur les négociations commerciales multilatérales. Il permet aux points de vue de la Communauté Francophone de pouvoir se faire connaître dans les débats internationaux.
  
  
• Foundation for International Enviornmental Law and Development (FIELD) is a non-governmental organisation bringing together public international lawyers committed to the promotion of environmental protection and sustainable development through law.

• Friends of the Earth (FoE) is a national environmental organization dedicated to preserving the health and diversity of the planet for future generations. As the largest international environmental network in the world with affiliates in 63 countries, Friends of the Earth empowers citizens to have an influential voice in decisions affecting their environment.
• Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit and (in some countries) charitable non-governmental organization dedicated to Free Software as in freedom.

• Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN) is an international non-governmental organisation which promotes the sustainable management and use of agricultural biodiversity based on people's control over genetic resources and local knowledge.

• Global Forum for Health Research is an organization focused on correcting the 10/90 gap by focusing research efforts on diseases representing the heaviest burden on the world's health and facilitating collaboration between partners in both the public and private sectors.
  
  
• Health Action International (HAI) is a non-profit, global network of health, development, consumer and other public interest groups in more than 70 countries working for a more rational use of medicinal drugs. HAI represents the interests of consumers in drug policy and believes that all drugs marketed should be acceptably safe, effective, affordable and meet real medical needs. HAI also campaigns for better controls on drug promotion and the provision of balanced, independent information for prescribers and consumers.


• Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) promotes resilient family farms, rural communities and ecosystems around the world through research and education, science and technology, and advocacy.
• Intellectual Property Institute (IP Institute)'s purpose can be described briefly as follows: "increasing the contribution of IP to economic well-being to timely, relevant and authoritative research and informing policy makers and public debate".
  
  
• Intellectual Property Watch: Transparency for Public Interest. Intellectual Property Watch reports on the interests and 'behind the scenes' dynamics which influence the design and implementation of intellectual property policies. A non-profit initiative, Intellectual Property Watch aims to increase transparency, accountability and fairness in global intellectual property policymaking.
  
  
• Intermediate Technology Development Group – aims to demonstrate and advocate the sustainable use of technology to reduce poverty in developing countries.
  
• International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) is an international development organisation and think tank dedicated to promoting sustainable economic growth in all countries through the use of healthy intellectual property systems.
• IP Justice is an international civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property law in a digital world.
  
  
• IPDEV is an EU research project, led by Chatham House in the UK, to assess the impact of IPR rules on economic growth, environmental protection and social goals.
  
  
• Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law, Germany, is entrusted with the task of comparative research in the field of national, european and international intellectual and industrial property law, i.e. the legal field devoted to the promotion and protection of technical inventions, designs and models, works of literature, art and science, trade marks and trade names as well as fair competition. The Max Planck Institute is a research institute within the Max Planck Society For The Promotion Of Science, but does not undertake teaching or legal training.
• Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organisation that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 80 countries.
• Oxfam