The new, easy-to-use image-search technology supplements the database's other querying criteria, including Vienna Classification codes, brand-holder names, country of origin and others. With this new addition, for example, a user can simply upload a proposed logo and quickly return records – sifting through more than 4 million images from 15 national and international collections - of other protected images that may bear a resemblance.

Background for Editors:

About the Global Brand Database: The database contains nearly 13 million records, with 15 national and international collections. The database contains more than 4 million searchable images.

About WIPO: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the leading global forum for the promotion of intellectual property as a force for innovation and creativity to achieve positive change. A specialized agency of the United Nations, WIPO assists its 187 member states in developing a balanced international IP legal framework to meet society's evolving needs. It provides business services for obtaining IP rights in multiple countries and resolving disputes. It delivers capacity-building programs to help developing countries benefit from using IP. And it provides free access to unique knowledge banks of IP information.