This book will be the first systematic and comprehensive effort to examine the politics of the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) governance system, its evolution, and key outstanding challenges. It deals with questions such as: How does WIPO's governance system work? How much has WIPO's governance system evolved over time and why? How and why did WIPO arrive at its current governance system? The author analyses WIPO's governance reforms and their proponents to date and examines why some proposals gained more traction than others and in whose interest reform (or lack thereof) occurred. In so doing, she presents five components of WIPO's governance system over four time periods since 1967 and highlights the drivers for change and their interests, such as growth in membership, scope and purpose, expansion of the organization, decision-making, control of the Secretariat, transparency and external relations. The book also argues that, although WIPO's history reflects a strong alignment between the interests of the Secretariat, its most powerful Member States and private clients, this relationship has faltered, depending on the prevailing political context and IP debates. Furthermore, the book argues that some of the ways in which WIPO's governance system has evolved generate new challenges and debates. It will be of use for policy analysts working on issues related to WIPO and international IP policymaking, and scholars and postgraduates of international intellectual property law and policy, international organisations, global economic governance and international political economy.

Author Biography

Carolyn Deere Birkbeck is a Senior Researcher in the Global Economic Governance Programme at the University of Oxford, UK, where she conducts research on the politics and governance of global trade, intellectual property policy, and sustainable development. She is also a Senior Associate at the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in Geneva, Switzerland. She is the founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of Intellectual Property Watch - the world's leading news service on international intellectual property policy debates.