Week 6- LESSON 4: International Convention and Reciprocity.

What is International Convention? This is synonymous to Treaty. A treaty is a formal written

agreement entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international
organizations (Wikipedia). The Philippines is one of the signatories of different treaties relative to
Intellectual Property Rights. Relative to IPR, the contracting countries agreed to each other that
they will reciprocally provide protections of any IPR products in their respective territory.
Section 3 of the law state that, “Any person who is a national or who is domiciled or has a real
and effective industrial establishment in a country which is a party to any convention, treaty or
agreement relating to intellectual property rights or the repression of unfair competition, to which
the Philippines is also a party, or extends reciprocal rights to nationals of the Philippines by law,
shall be entitled to benefits to the extent necessary to give effect to any provision of such convention,
treaty or reciprocal law, in addition to the rights to which any owner of an intellectual property
right is otherwise entitled by this Act”

So for example, when an Apple product from United States of America is being pirated in the
Philippines, since USA and Philippines, are both signatories to IPR related treaties, it is the
obligation of the Philippine government through the Intellectual Property Office( IPO) and other
law enforcing agencies to take action against the infringer. On the other hand, when Jollibee’s Mark
and Trade Secrets are being copied by Crooked American in USA, likewise it is the duty of the
American government to take legal and law enforcement action against the said crooked American.
That is the essence of a treaty.

So what are the IPR International treaties in which the Philippines is a signatory? The Republic of
the Philippines is a signatory to several international treaties and conventions on intellectual
property rights, to with:
1. Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization [since 1980]
2. Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property [since 1965]
3. Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for
Purposes of Patent Procedure [since 1981]
4. Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works [since 1951]
5. International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of
Phonographs and Broadcasting Organizations [since 1984]
6. Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights [TRIPS
Agreement
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Lesson Task 4
Name: ______________________________ Course/Year/Section: ____________ Time: ___________ Date:______

1.Activity: Extract 3 Keywords from the lesson and browse their meanings from the dictionary.
1) __________________________________-
2) __________________________________-
3) __________________________________-
II. Activity 2: Insights learnt. 2 sentences
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