The European Patent Office (EPO) is the primary agency of the European Patent Organization. Established in 1977, the European Patent Organization oversees patent applications and granting in all of the nations of the European Union, in addition to Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Turkey, Monaco, Serbia, San Marino, North Macedonia, and Albania. It also established the CPC in cooperation with the USPTO.
An agency of the United Nations, WIPO was created in 1970 to protect intellectual property rights in order to better promote creativity, technology transfer, and economic development.