United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property

The United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI) was an international organization. It was set up in 1893 to administer the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. The BIRPI is the predecessor of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

BIRPI is an acronym for Bureaux Internationaux Réunis pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle (French for "United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property").

In 1893, the International Bureau established by the Paris Convention and the International Bureau established by Bern Convention, both to carry out administrative tasks, merged to form the BIRPI. Originally based in Bern, Switzerland, the BIRPI moved to Geneva in 1960. The last director of the BIRPI was Georg Bodenhausen.

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