International Conventions on Intellectual Property

Summaries of the following are lifted from www.wipo.int

1. Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property Rights

2. Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
3. Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of
Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations
4. Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of
Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure
5. Patent Cooperation Treaty
6. Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and
the Protocol Relating to that Agreement
7. Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization
8. WIPO Copyright Treaty
9. WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty

An overview of the following is lifted from www.wto.org

10. Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

(TRIPS), World Trade Organization

PARIS CONVENTION
FOR THE PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS (1883)
Philippines: 1965
The Paris Convention applies to industrial property in the
widest sense, including patents, trademarks, industrial
designs, utility models (a kind of "small-scale patent"
provided for by the laws of some countries), service marks,
trade names (designations under which an industrial or
commercial activity is carried out), geographical indications
(indications of source and appellations of origin) and the
repression of unfair competition.
The substantive provisions of the Convention fall into three
main categories: national treatment, right of priority,
common rules.
1. Under the provisions on national treatment, the
Convention provides that, as regards the protection of
industrial property, each Contracting State must grant
the same protection to nationals of other Contracting
States that it grants to its own nationals. Nationals of
non-Contracting States are also entitled to national
treatment under the Convention if they are domiciled or
have a real and effective industrial or commercial
establishment in a Contracting State.
2. The Convention provides for the right of priority in the
case of patents (and utility models where they exist),
marks and industrial designs. This right means that, on
the basis of a regular first application filed in one of the
Contracting States, the applicant may, within a certain
period of time (12 months for patents and utility
models; 6 months for industrial designs and marks),
apply for protection in any of the other Contracting
States. These subsequent applications will be regarded
as if they had been filed on the same day as the first
application. In other words, they will have priority
(hence the expression "right of priority") over
applications filed by others during the said period of
time for the same invention, utility model, mark or
industrial design. Moreover, these subsequent
applications, being based on the first application, will
not be affected by any event that takes place in the
interval, such as the publication of an invention or the
sale of articles bearing a mark or incorporating an
industrial design. One of the great practical advantages
of this provision is that applicants seeking protection in
several countries are not required to present all of their
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applications at the same time but have 6 or 12 months
to decide in which countries they wish to seek
protection, and to organize with due care the steps
necessary for securing protection.
3. The Convention lays down a few common rules that all
Contracting States must follow. The most important are:
a. Patents. Patents granted in different Contracting
States for the same invention are independent of
each other: the granting of a patent in one
Contracting State does not oblige other Contracting
States to grant a patent; a patent cannot be refused,
annulled or terminated in any Contracting State on
the ground that it has been refused or annulled or
has terminated in any other Contracting State.
The inventor has the right to be named as such in
the patent.
The grant of a patent may not be refused, and a
patent may not be invalidated, on the ground that
the sale of the patented product, or of a product
obtained by means of the patented process, is
subject to restrictions or limitations resulting from
the domestic law.
Each Contracting State that takes legislative
measures providing for the grant of compulsory
licenses to prevent the abuses which might result
from the exclusive rights conferred by a patent may
do so only under certain conditions. A compulsory
license (a license not granted by the owner of the
patent but by a public authority of the State
concerned), based on failure to work or insufficient
working of the patented invention, may only be
granted pursuant to a request filed after three years
from the grant of the patent or four years from the
filing date of the patent application, and it must be
refused if the patentee gives legitimate reasons to
justify this inaction. Furthermore, forfeiture of a
patent may not be provided for, except in cases
where the grant of a compulsory license would not
have been sufficient to prevent the abuse. In the
latter case, proceedings for forfeiture of a patent
may be instituted, but only after the expiration of
two years from the grant of the first compulsory
license.
b. Marks. The Paris Convention does not regulate the
conditions for the filing and registration of marks
which are determined in each Contracting State by

domestic law. Consequently, no application for the
registration of a mark filed by a national of a
Contracting State may be refused, nor may a
registration be invalidated, on the ground that filing,
registration or renewal has not been effected in the
country of origin. The registration of a mark
obtained in one Contracting State is independent of
its possible registration in any other country,
including the country of origin; consequently, the
lapse or annulment of the registration of a mark in
one Contracting State will not affect the validity of
the registration in other Contracting States.
Where a mark has been duly registered in the
country of origin, it must, on request, be accepted
for filing and protected in its original form in the
other Contracting States. Nevertheless, registration
may be refused in well-defined cases, such as where
the mark would infringe the acquired rights of third
parties; where it is devoid of distinctive character;
where it is contrary to morality or public order; or
where it is of such a nature as to be liable to deceive
the public.
If, in any Contracting State, the use of a registered
mark is compulsory, the registration cannot be
canceled for non-use until after a reasonable
period, and then only if the owner cannot justify this
inaction.
Each Contracting State must refuse registration and
prohibit the use of marks that constitute a
reproduction, imitation or translation, liable to
create confusion, of a mark used for identical and
similar goods and considered by the competent
authority of that State to be well known in that State
and to already belong to a person entitled to the
benefits of the Convention.
Each Contracting State must likewise refuse
registration and prohibit the use of marks that
consist of or contain, without authorization,
armorial bearings, State emblems and official signs
and hallmarks of Contracting States, provided they
have been communicated through the International
Bureau of WIPO. The same provisions apply to
armorial bearings, flags, other emblems,
abbreviations and names of certain
intergovernmental organizations.
Collective marks must be granted protection.
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c. Industrial Designs. Industrial designs must be
protected in each Contracting State, and protection
may not be forfeited on the ground that articles
incorporating the design are not manufactured in
that State.
d. Trade Names. Protection must be granted to trade
names in each Contracting State without there
being an obligation to file or register the names.
e. Indications of Source. Measures must be taken by
each Contracting State against direct or indirect use
of a false indication of the source of goods or the
identity of their producer, manufacturer or trader.
f. Unfair competition. Each Contracting State must
provide for effective protection against unfair
competition.
The Paris Union, established by the Convention, has an
Assembly and an Executive Committee. Every State that is a
member of the Union and has adhered to at least the
administrative and final provisions of the Stockholm Act
(1967) is a member of the Assembly. The members of the
Executive Committee are elected from among the members
of the Union, except for Switzerland, which is a member ex
officio. The establishment of the biennial program and
budget of the WIPO Secretariat – as far as the Paris Union is
concerned – is the task of its Assembly.
The Paris Convention, concluded in 1883, was revised at
Brussels in 1900, at Washington in 1911, at The Hague in
1925, at London in 1934, at Lisbon in 1958 and at Stockholm
in 1967, and was amended in 1979.
The Convention is open to all States. Instruments of
ratification or accession must be deposited with the Director
General of WIPO.

BERNE CONVENTION
FOR THE PROTECTION OF LITERARY AND
ARTISTIC WORKS (1886)
Philippines: 1950
The Berne Convention deals with the protection of works
and the rights of their authors. It is based on three basic
principles and contains a series of provisions determining
the minimum protection to be granted, as well as special
provisions available to developing countries that want to
make use of them.
1. The three basic principles are the following:
a. Works originating in one of the Contracting States
(that is, works the author of which is a national of
such a State or works first published in such a State)
must be given the same protection in each of the
other Contracting States as the latter grants to the
works of its own nationals (principle of "national
treatment").
b. Protection must not be conditional upon
compliance with any formality (principle of
"automatic" protection).
c. Protection is independent of the existence of
protection in the country of origin of the work
(principle of "independence" of protection). If,
however, a Contracting State provides for a longer
term of protection than the minimum prescribed by
the Convention and the work ceases to be protected
in the country of origin, protection may be denied
once protection in the country of origin ceases.
Note: Under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), the
principles of national treatment, automatic protection
and independence of protection also bind those World
Trade Organization (WTO) Members not party to the
Berne Convention. In addition, the TRIPS Agreement
imposes an obligation of "most-favored-nation
treatment", under which advantages accorded by a
WTO Member to the nationals of any other country
must also be accorded to the nationals of all WTO
Members. It is to be noted that the possibility of delayed
application of the TRIPS Agreement does not apply to
national treatment and most-favored obligations.
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2. The minimum standards of protection relate to the
works and rights to be protected, and to the duration of
protection:
a. As to works, protection must include "every
production in the literary, scientific and artistic
domain, whatever the mode or form of its
expression" (Article 2(1) of the Convention).
b. Subject to certain allowed reservations, limitations
or exceptions, the following are among the rights
that must be recognized as exclusive rights of
authorization:
▪ the right to translate,
▪ the right to make adaptations and
arrangements of the work,
▪ the right to perform in public dramatic,
dramatico-musical and musical works,
▪ the right to recite in public literary works,
▪ the right to communicate to the public the
performance of such works,
▪ the right to broadcast (with the possibility that
a Contracting State may provide for a mere right
to equitable remuneration instead of a right of
authorization),
▪ the right to make reproductions in any manner
or form (with the possibility that a Contracting
State may permit, in certain special cases,
reproduction without authorization, provided
that the reproduction does not conflict with the
normal exploitation of the work and does not
unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests
of the author; and the possibility that a
Contracting State may provide, in the case of
sound recordings of musical works, for a right to
equitable remuneration),
▪ the right to use the work as a basis for an
audiovisual work, and the right to reproduce,
distribute, perform in public or communicate to
the public that audiovisual work.
Note: Under the TRIPS Agreement, an exclusive
right of rental must be recognized in respect of
computer programs and, under certain conditions,
audiovisual works.
The Convention also provides for "moral rights",
that is, the right to claim authorship of the work and
the right to object to any mutilation, deformation or
other modification of, or other derogatory action in
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relation to, the work that would be prejudicial to the
author's honor or reputation.
c. As to the duration of protection, the general rule is
that protection must be granted until the expiration
of the 50th year after the author's death. There are,
however, exceptions to this general rule. In the case
of anonymous or pseudonymous works, the term of
protection expires 50 years after the work has been
lawfully made available to the public, except if the
pseudonym leaves no doubt as to the author's
identity or if the author discloses his or her identity
during that period; in the latter case, the general
rule applies. In the case of audiovisual
(cinematographic) works, the minimum term of
protection is 50 years after the making available of
the work to the public ("release") or – failing such
an event – from the creation of the work. In the case
of works of applied art and photographic works, the
minimum term is 25 years from the creation of the
work.
The Berne Union has an Assembly and an Executive
Committee. Every country that is a member of the Union
and has adhered to at least the administrative and final
provisions of the Stockholm Act is a member of the
Assembly. The members of the Executive Committee are
elected from among the members of the Union, except for
Switzerland, which is a member ex officio.
The establishment of the biennial program and budget of
the WIPO Secretariat – as far as the Berne Union is
concerned – is the task of its Assembly.
The Berne Convention, concluded in 1886, was revised at
Paris in 1896 and at Berlin in 1908, completed at Berne in
1914, revised at Rome in 1928, at Brussels in 1948, at
Stockholm in 1967 and at Paris in 1971, and was amended
in 1979.
The Convention is open to all States. Instruments of
ratification or accession must be deposited with the Director
General of WIPO.

Note: Under the TRIPS Agreement, any term of
protection that is calculated on a basis other than
the life of a natural person must be at least 50 years
from the first authorized publication of the work, or
– failing such an event – 50 years from the making
of the work. However, this rule does not apply to
photographic works, or to works of applied art.
Note: It is to be noted that WTO Members, even those not
party to the Berne Convention, must comply with the
substantive law provisions of the Berne Convention, except
that WTO Members not party to the Convention are not
bound by the moral rights provisions of the Convention.

3. The Berne Convention allows certain limitations and

exceptions on economic rights, that is, cases in which
protected works may be used without the authorization
of the owner of the copyright, and without payment of
compensation. These limitations are commonly referred
to as "free uses" of protected works, and are set forth in
Articles 9(2) (reproduction in certain special cases), 10
(quotations and use of works by way of illustration for
teaching purposes), 10bis (reproduction of newspaper
or similar articles and use of works for the purpose of
reporting current events) and 11bis(3) (ephemeral
recordings for broadcasting purposes).

4. The Appendix to the Paris Act of the Convention also

permits developing countries to implement non-
voluntary licenses for translation and reproduction of
works in certain cases, in connection with educational
activities. In these cases, the described use is allowed
without the authorization of the right holder, subject to
the payment of remuneration to be fixed by the law.

ROME CONVENTION
FOR THE PROTECTION OF PERFORMERS,
PRODUCERS OF PHONOGRAMS AND
BROADCASTING ORGANISATIONS (1961)
Philippines: 1984
The Rome Convention secures protection in performances
for performers, in phonograms for producers of
phonograms and in broadcasts for broadcasting
organizations.
1. Performers (actors, singers, musicians, dancers and
those who perform literary or artistic works) are
protected against certain acts to which they have not
consented, such as the broadcasting and
communication to the public of a live performance; the
fixation of the live performance; the reproduction of the
fixation if the original fixation was made without the
performer's consent or if the reproduction was made for
purposes different from those for which consent was
given.
2. Producers of phonograms have the right to authorize or
prohibit the direct or indirect reproduction of their
phonograms. In the Rome Convention, “phonograms”
means any exclusively aural fixation of sounds of a
performance or of other sounds. Where a phonogram
published for commercial purposes gives rise to
secondary uses (such as broadcasting or communication
to the public in any form), a single equitable
remuneration must be paid by the user to the
performers, to the producers of the phonograms, or to
both. Contracting States are free, however, not to apply
this rule or to limit its application.
3. Broadcasting organizations have the right to authorize
or prohibit certain acts, namely the rebroadcasting of
their broadcasts; the fixation of their broadcasts; the
reproduction of such fixations; the communication to
the public of their television broadcasts if such
communication is made in places accessible to the
public against payment of an entrance fee.
The Rome Convention allows for limitations and exceptions
to the above-mentioned rights in national laws as regards
private use, use of short excerpts in connection with
reporting current events, ephemeral fixation by a
broadcasting organization by means of its own facilities and
for its own broadcasts, use solely for the purpose of teaching
or scientific research and in any other cases where national
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law provides exceptions to copyright in literary and artistic
works. Furthermore, once a performer has consented to the
incorporation of a performance in a visual or audiovisual
fixation, the provisions on performers' rights have no
further application.
As to duration, protection must last at least until the end of
a 20-year period computed from the end of the year in
which (a) the fixation was made, for phonograms and for
performances incorporated therein; (b) the performance
took place, for performances not incorporated in
phonograms; (c) the broadcast took place. However,
national laws increasingly provide for a 50-year term of
protection, at least for phonograms and performances.
WIPO is responsible, jointly with the International Labour
Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), for the
administration of the Rome Convention. These three
organizations constitute the Secretariat of the
Intergovernmental Committee set up under the Convention
consisting of the representatives of 12 Contracting States.
The Convention does not provide for the institution of a
Union or budget. It establishes an Intergovernmental
Committee composed of Contracting States that considers
questions concerning the Convention
Note: The TRIPS Agreement also contains provisions on the
protection of related rights. These provisions are different,
in several respects, from those contained in the Rome
Convention and in the Geneva Convention for the
Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against
Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms (1971).
This Convention is open to States party to the Berne
Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
(1886) or to the Universal Copyright Convention.
Instruments of ratification or accession must be deposited
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. States
may make reservations with regard to the application of
certain provisions.

BUDAPEST TREATY
ON THE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF
THE DEPOSIT OF MICROORGANISMS FOR THE
PURPOSES OF PATENT PROCEDURE (1977)
Philippines: 1981
The main feature of the Treaty is that a contracting State
which allows or requires the deposit of microorganisms for
the purposes of patent procedure must recognize, for such
purposes, the deposit of a microorganism with any
"international depositary authority", irrespective of
whether such authority is on or outside the territory of the
said State.
Disclosure of the invention is a requirement for the grant of
patents. Normally, an invention is disclosed by means of a
written description. Where an invention involves a
microorganism or the use of a microorganism, disclosure is
not possible in writing but can only be effected by the
deposit, with a specialized institution, of a sample of the
microorganism. In practice, the term "microorganism" is
interpreted in a broad sense, covering biological material
the deposit of which is necessary for the purposes of
disclosure, in particular regarding inventions relating to the
food and pharmaceutical fields.
It is in order to eliminate the need to deposit in each country
in which protection is sought, that the Treaty provides that
the deposit of a microorganism with any "international
depositary authority" suffices for the purposes of patent
procedure before the national patent offices of all of the
contracting States and before any regional patent office (if
such a regional office declares that it recognizes the effects
of the Treaty). The European Patent Office (EPO), the
Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) and the African
Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) have
made such declarations.
What the Treaty calls an "international depositary
authority" is a scientific institution - typically a "culture
collection" - which is capable of storing microorganisms.
Such an institution acquires the status of "international
depositary authority" through the furnishing by the
contracting State in the territory of which it is located of
assurances to the Director General of WIPO to the effect
that the said institution complies and will continue to
comply with certain requirements of the Treaty.
On January 16, 2017 there were 46 such authorities: seven
in the United Kingdom, four in the Republic of Korea, three
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in China, Italy and the United States of America, two each in
Australia, India, Japan, Poland, the Russian Federation and
in Spain, and one each in Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile,
the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary,
Latvia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Switzerland.
The Treaty makes the patent system of the contracting State
more attractive because it is primarily advantageous to the
depositor if he is an applicant for patents in several
contracting States; the deposit of a microorganism under
the procedures provided for in the Treaty will save him
money and increase his security. It will save him money
because, instead of depositing the microorganism in each
and every contracting State in which he files a patent
application referring to that microorganism, he will deposit
it only once, with one depositary authority. The Treaty
increases the security of the depositor because it establishes
a uniform system of deposit, recognition and furnishing of
samples of microorganisms.
The Treaty does not provide for the institution of a budget
but it does create a Union and an Assembly whose members
are the States which are party to the Treaty. The main task
of the Assembly is the amendment of the Regulations issued
under the Treaty. No State can be requested to pay
contributions to the International Bureau of WIPO on
account of its membership in the Budapest Union or to
establish an "international depositary authority".
The Budapest Treaty was concluded in 1977.
The Treaty is open to States party to the Paris Convention
for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883). Instruments
of ratification or accession must be deposited with the
Director General of WIPO.

PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (1970)
Philippines: 2001
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) makes it possible to
seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in
each of a large number of countries by filing an
"international" patent application. Such an application may
be filed by anyone who is a national or resident of a PCT
Contracting State. It may generally be filed with the national
patent office of the Contracting State of which the applicant
is a national or resident or, at the applicant's option, with
the International Bureau of WIPO in Geneva.
If the applicant is a national or resident of a Contracting
State party to the European Patent Convention, the Harare
Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs (Harare
Protocol), the Bangui Agreement, or the Eurasian Patent
Convention, the international application may also be filed
with the European Patent Office (EPO), the African Regional
Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), the African
Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) or the Eurasian
Patent Office (EAPO), respectively.
The Treaty regulates in detail the formal requirements with
which international applications must comply.
Filing a PCT application has the effect of automatically
designating all Contracting States bound by the PCT on the
international filing date. The effect of the international
application is the same in each designated State as if a
national patent application had been filed with the national
patent office of that State.
The international application is subjected to an international
search. That search is carried out by one of the competent
International Searching Authorities (ISA) under the PCT and
results in an international search report, that is, a listing of
the citations of published documents that might affect the
patentability of the invention claimed in the international
application. In addition, a preliminary and non-binding
written opinion on whether the invention appears to meet
patentability criteria in light of the search report results is
also issued.
Note: The patent offices of Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada,
China, Finland, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the
Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, the United States of
America, the European Patent Office and the Nordic Patent
Institute act as International Searching Authorities under
the PCT (status on January 1, 2013). Agreements enabling
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the offices of Chile, Egypt and India to act as ISAs have been
signed; however, these offices have not yet commenced
operations.
The international search report and written opinion are
communicated to the applicant who, after evaluating their
content, may decide to withdraw the application, in
particular where the content of the report and opinion
suggests that the granting of patents is unlikely, or the
applicant may decide to amend the claims in the application.
If the international application is not withdrawn, it is
published by the International Bureau, together with the
international search report. The written opinion is not
published at that time.
Before the expiration of 19 months from the priority date,
the applicant has the option to request a Supplementary
International Searching Authority (SISA) (an ISA willing to
offer this service) to carry out an additional search of
relevant documentation, specifically focusing on documents
in the particular language in which that authority specializes.
The goal of this additional search is to reduce the likelihood
of further documents coming to light in the national phase
that would make granting the patent unlikely.
An applicant that decides to continue with the international
application with a view to obtaining national (or regional)
patents can, in relation to most Contracting States, wait until
the end of the thirtieth month from the priority date to
commence the national procedure before each designated
office by furnishing a translation (where necessary) of the
application into the official language of that office, paying to
it the necessary fees and acquiring the services of local
patent agents.
If the applicant wishes to make amendments to the
application – for example, in order to address documents
identified in the search report and conclusions made in the
written opinion – and to have the potential patentability of
the "as-amended" application reviewed – an optional
international preliminary examination may be requested.
The result of the preliminary examination is an international
preliminary report on patentability (IPRP Chapter II) which is
prepared by one of the competent International Preliminary
Examining Authorities (IPEA) under the PCT and which
contains a preliminary and non-binding opinion on the
patentability of the claimed invention. It provides the
applicant with an even stronger basis on which to evaluate
the chances of obtaining a patent and, if the report is
favorable, a stronger basis on which to continue with the
application before national and regional patent offices. If no
 9 of 24

international preliminary examination has been requested,
the International Bureau establishes an international
preliminary report on patentability (IPRP Chapter I) on the
basis of the written opinion of the ISA and communicates
this report to the designated offices.
The procedure under the PCT has great advantages for
applicants, patent offices and the general public:
a. applicants have up to 18 months more than if they had
not used the PCT to reflect on the desirability of seeking
protection in foreign countries, appoint local patent
agents in each foreign country, prepare the necessary
translations and pay national fees;
b. applicants can rest assured that, if their international
application is in the form prescribed by the PCT, it
cannot be rejected on formal grounds by any designated
office during the national phase;
c. on the basis of the international search report and the
written opinion, applicants can evaluate with
reasonable probability the chances of their invention
being patented;
d. applicants have the possibility, during the optional
international preliminary examination, to amend the
international application and thus put it in order before
processing by the various patent offices;
▪ is used by the world's major corporations, research
institutions and universities in seeking international
patent protection.
The PCT created a Union which has an Assembly. Every State
party to the PCT is a member of the Assembly. Among the
most important tasks of the Assembly are the amendment
of the Regulations issued under the Treaty, the adoption of
the biennial program and budget of the Union and the fixing
of certain fees connected with the use of the PCT system.
The Assembly of the PCT Union has established a special
measure to benefit (1) natural persons who are nationals of
and reside in States with a per capita national income below
US$3,000, or who are nationals of and reside in one of the
States listed in the Schedule of Fees under the PCT
Regulations, and (2) applicants, whether natural persons or
not, who are nationals of and reside in States classified as
LDCs by the United Nations. That benefit consists of a
reduction of 90 per cent of certain fees under the Treaty.
The PCT was concluded in 1970, amended in 1979 and
modified in 1984 and in 2001.
It is open to States party to the Paris Convention for the
Protection of Industrial Property (1883). Instruments of
ratification or accession must be deposited with the Director
General of WIPO.

e. the search and examination work of patent offices can

be considerably reduced or eliminated thanks to the
international search report, the written opinion and,
where applicable, the international preliminary report
on patentability which are communicated to designated
offices together with the international application;

f. since each international application is published with an

international search report, third parties are in a better
position to formulate a well-founded opinion about the
potential patentability of the claimed invention; and

g. for applicants, international publication puts the world

on notice of their applications, which can be an effective
means of advertising and looking for potential licensees.

Ultimately, the PCT:

▪ brings the world within reach;

▪ postpones the major costs associated with international
patent protection;
▪ provides a strong basis for patenting decisions; and

MADRID AGREEMENT
CONCERNING THE INTERNATIONAL
REGISTRATION OF MARKS (1891)
AND THE PROTOCOL RELATING TO THAT
AGREEMENT (1989)
Philippines: 2012
Introduction
The Madrid System for the International Registration of
Marks is governed by two treaties:
▪ the Madrid Agreement, concluded in 1891 and revised
at Brussels (1900), Washington (1911), The Hague
(1925), London (1934), Nice (1957) and Stockholm
(1967), and amended in 1979, and
▪ the Protocol relating to that Agreement, concluded in
1989, which aims to make the Madrid system more
flexible and more compatible with the domestic
legislation of certain countries or intergovernmental
organizations that had not been able to accede to the
Agreement.
States and organizations party to the Madrid system are
collectively referred to as Contracting Parties.
The system makes it possible to protect a mark in a large
number of countries by obtaining an international
registration that has effect in each of the designated
Contracting Parties.
Who May Use the System?
An application for international registration (international
application) may be filed only by a natural person or legal
entity having a connection – through establishment,
domicile or nationality – with a Contracting Party to the
Agreement or the Protocol.
A mark may be the subject of an international application
only if it has already been registered with the trademark
office of the Contracting Party with which the applicant has
the necessary connections (referred to as the office of
origin). However, where all the designations are effected
under the Protocol (see below), the international
application may be based simply on an application for
registration filed with the office of origin. An international
10 of 24
application must be presented to the International Bureau
of WIPO through the intermediary of the office of origin.
The International Application
An application for international registration must designate
one or more Contracting Parties in which protection is
sought. Further designations can be effected subsequently.
A Contracting Party may be designated only if it is party to
the same treaty as the Contracting Party whose office is the
office of origin. The latter cannot itself be designated in the
international application.
The designation of a given Contracting Party is made either
under the Agreement or the Protocol, depending on which
treaty is common to the Contracting Parties concerned. If
both Contracting Parties are party to the Agreement and the
Protocol, the designation will be governed by the Protocol.
International applications can be filed in English, French or
Spanish, irrespective of which treaty or treaties govern the
application, unless the office of origin restricts that choice
to one or two of these languages.
The filing of an international application is subject to the
payment of a basic fee (which is reduced to 10 per cent of
the prescribed amount for international applications filed by
applicants whose country of origin is an LDC, in accordance
with the list established by the United Nations), a
supplementary fee for each class of goods and/or services
beyond the first three classes, and a complementary fee for
each Contracting Party designated. However, a Contracting
Party to the Protocol may declare that, when it is designated
under the Protocol, the complementary fee is replaced by
an individual fee, whose amount is determined by the
Contracting Party concerned but may not be higher than the
amount that would be payable for the registration of a mark,
at the national level, with its office.
International Registration
Once the International Bureau receives an international
application, it carries out an examination for compliance
with the requirements of the Agreement, the Protocol and
their Common Regulations. This examination is restricted to
formalities, including the classification and
comprehensibility of the list of goods and/or services. If
there are no irregularities in the application, the
International Bureau records the mark in the International
Register, publishes the international registration in the
WIPO Gazette of International Marks (hereinafter referred
to as "the Gazette"), and notifies it to each designated

Contracting Party. Any matter of substance, such as whether
the mark qualifies for protection or whether it is in conflict
with a mark registered previously in a particular Contracting
Party, is determined by that Contracting Party's trademark
office under the applicable domestic legislation. The Gazette
is available in electronic form (e-Gazette) on the Madrid
system website.
Statement of Grant of Protection or Refusal of Protection
The office of each designated Contracting Party shall issue a
statement of grant of protection under Rule 18ter of the
Common Regulations.
However, when designated Contracting Parties examine the
international registration for compliance with their
domestic legislation, and if some substantive provisions are
not complied with, they have the right to refuse protection
in their territory. Any such refusal, including an indication of
the grounds on which it is based, must be communicated to
the International Bureau, normally within 12 months from
the date of notification. However, a Contracting Party to the
Protocol may declare that, when it is designated under the
Protocol, this time limit is extended to 18 months. That
Contracting Party may also declare that a refusal based on
an opposition may be communicated to the International
Bureau even after the 18-month time limit.
The refusal is communicated to the holder of the
registration or the holder's representative before the
International Bureau, recorded in the International Register
and published in the Gazette. The procedure subsequent to
a refusal (such as an appeal or a review) is carried out
directly by the competent administration and/or court of
the Contracting Party concerned and the holder, without the
involvement of the International Bureau. The final decision
concerning the refusal must, however, be communicated to
the International Bureau, which records and publishes it.
Effects of an International Registration
The effects of an international registration in each
designated Contracting Party are, from the date of the
international registration, the same as if the mark had been
deposited directly with the office of that Contracting Party.
If no refusal is issued within the applicable time limit, or if a
refusal originally notified by a Contracting Party is
subsequently withdrawn, the protection of the mark is, from
the date of the international registration, the same as if it
had been registered by the office of that Contracting Party.
11 of 24
An international registration is effective for 10 years. It may
be renewed for further periods of 10 years on payment of
the prescribed fees.
Protection may be limited with regard to some or all of the
goods or services or may be renounced with regard to some
only of the designated Contracting Parties. An international
registration may be transferred in relation to all or some of
the designated Contracting Parties and all or some of the
goods or services indicated.
Advantages of the Madrid System
The Madrid system offers several advantages for trademark
owners. Instead of filing a separate national application in
each country of interest, in several different languages, in
accordance with different national or regional procedural
rules and regulations and paying several different (and often
higher) fees, an international registration may be obtained
by simply filing one application with the International
Bureau (through the office of the home country), in one
language (English, French or Spanish) and paying one set of
fees.
Similar advantages exist for maintaining and renewing a
registration. Likewise, if the international registration is
assigned to a third party, or is otherwise changed, such as a
change in name and/or address, this may be recorded with
effect for all designated Contracting Parties by means of a
single procedural step.
To facilitate the work of the users of the Madrid system, the
International Bureau publishes a Guide to the International
Registration of Marks under the Madrid Agreement and the
Madrid Protocol.
The Madrid Agreement and Protocol are open to any State
party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial
Property (1883). The two treaties are parallel and
independent, and States may adhere to either or both of
them. In addition, an intergovernmental organization that
maintains its own office for the registration of marks may
become party to the Protocol. Instruments of ratification or
accession must be deposited with the Director General of
WIPO.

CONVENTION ESTABLISHING THE
WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
ORGANIZATION (1967)
Philippines: 1980
The WIPO Convention, the constituent instrument of the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), was
signed at Stockholm on July 14, 1967, entered into force in
1970 and was amended in 1979. WIPO is an
intergovernmental organization that became in 1974 one of
the specialized agencies of the United Nations system of
organizations.
The origins of WIPO go back to 1883 and 1886 when the
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works, respectively, were concluded. Both
Conventions provided for the establishment of an
"International Bureau". The two bureaus were united in
1893 and, in 1970, were replaced by the World Intellectual
Property Organization, by virtue of the WIPO Convention.
WIPO's two main objectives are
a. to promote the protection of intellectual property
worldwide; and
b. to ensure administrative cooperation among the
intellectual property Unions established by the treaties
that WIPO administers.
In order to attain these objectives, WIPO, in addition to
performing the administrative tasks of the Unions,
undertakes a number of activities, including:
a. normative activities, involving the setting of norms and
standards for the protection and enforcement of
intellectual property rights through the conclusion of
international treaties;
b. program activities, involving legal and technical
assistance to States in the field of intellectual property;
c. international classification and standardization
activities, involving cooperation among industrial
property offices concerning patent, trademark and
industrial design documentation; and
d. registration and filing activities, involving services
related to international applications for patents for
12 of 24
inventions and for the registration of marks and
industrial designs.
Membership in WIPO is open to any State that is a member
of any of the Unions and to any other State satisfying one of
the following conditions:
a. it is a member of the United Nations, any of the
specialized agencies brought into relationship with the
United Nations, or the International Atomic Energy
Agency;
b. it is a party to the Statute of the International Court of
Justice; or
c. it has been invited by the General Assembly of WIPO to
become a party to the Convention. There are no
obligations arising from membership of WIPO
concerning other treaties administered by WIPO.
Accession to WIPO is effected by means of the deposit
with the Director General of WIPO of an instrument of
accession to the WIPO Convention.
The WIPO Convention establishes three main organs: the
WIPO General Assembly, the WIPO Conference and the
WIPO Coordination Committee. The WIPO General
Assembly is composed of the Member States of WIPO which
are also members of any of the Unions. Its main functions
are, inter alia, the appointment of the Director General upon
nomination by the Coordination Committee, review and
approval of the reports of the Director General and the
reports and activities of the Coordination Committee,
adoption of the biennial budget common to the Unions, and
adoption of the financial regulations of the Organization.
The WIPO Conference is composed of the States party to the
WIPO Convention. It is, inter alia, the competent body for
adopting amendments to the Convention. The WIPO
Coordination Committee is composed of members elected
from among the members of the Executive Committee of
the Paris Union and the Executive Committee of the Berne
Union. Its main functions are to give advice to the organs of
the Unions, the General Assembly, the Conference, and to
the Director General, on all administrative and financial
matters of interest to these bodies. It also prepares the draft
agenda of the General Assembly and the draft agenda of the
Conference. Where appropriate, the Coordination
Committee nominates a candidate for the post of Director
General for appointment by the General Assembly.
The principal sources of income of WIPO's regular budget
are the fees paid by the users of the international
 13 of 24

registration and filing services, and the contributions paid by

the governments of Member States. Each State belongs to
one of 14 classes, which determines the amount of its
contribution. Class I, with the highest contribution, involves
the payment of 25 contribution units, whereas Class Ster,
with the lowest contribution, involves the payment of 1/32
of one contribution unit. By virtue of the unitary
contribution system adopted by Member States in 1993, the
amount of each State's contribution is the same whether
that State is a member only of WIPO, or only of one or more
Unions, or of both WIPO and one or more Unions.

The Secretariat of the Organization is called the

International Bureau. The executive head of the
International Bureau is the Director General who is
appointed by the WIPO General Assembly and is assisted by
two or more Deputy Directors General.

The headquarters of the Organization are in Geneva,

Switzerland. The Organization has Liaison Offices in Brazil
(Rio de Janeiro), Japan (Tokyo), Singapore (Singapore) and
the United States of America (at the United Nations in New
York).

The Organization benefits from the privileges and

immunities granted to international organizations and their
officials in the fulfillment of its objectives and exercise of its
functions, and has concluded a headquarters agreement
with the Swiss Confederation to that effect.

WIPO COPYRIGHT TREATY (1996)
The WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) is a special agreement
under the Berne Convention that deals with the protection
of works and the rights of their authors in the digital
environment. Any Contracting Party (even if it is not bound
by the Berne Convention) must comply with the substantive
provisions of the 1971 (Paris) Act of the Berne Convention
for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886).
Furthermore, the WCT mentions two subject matters to be
protected by copyright:
a. computer programs, whatever the mode or form of
their expression; and
b. compilations of data or other material ("databases"), in
any form, which, by reason of the selection or
arrangement of their contents, constitute intellectual
creations. (Where a database does not constitute such
a creation, it is outside the scope of this Treaty.)
As to the rights granted to authors, apart from the rights
recognized by the Berne Convention, the Treaty also grants:
a. the right of distribution;
b. the right of rental; and
c. a broader right of communication to the public.
The right of distribution is the right to authorize the making
available to the public of the original and copies of a work
through sale or other transfer of ownership.
The right of rental is the right to authorize commercial
rental to the public of the original and copies of three kinds
of works:
a. computer programs (except where the computer
program itself is not the essential object of the rental);
b. cinematographic works (but only in cases where
commercial rental has led to widespread copying of
such works, materially impairing the exclusive right of
reproduction); and
c. works embodied in phonograms as determined in the
national law of Contracting Parties (except for countries
which, since April 15, 1994, have had a system in force
for equitable remuneration of such rental).
The right of communication to the public is the right to
authorize any communication to the public, by wire or
14 of 24
wireless means, including "the making available to the
public of works in a way that the members of the public may
access the work from a place and at a time individually
chosen by them". The quoted expression covers, in
particular, on-demand, interactive communication through
the Internet.
As to limitations and exceptions, Article 10 of the WCT
incorporates the so-called "three-step" test to determine
limitations and exceptions, as provided for in Article 9(2) of
the Berne Convention, extending its application to all rights.
The Agreed Statement accompanying the WCT provides that
such limitations and exceptions, as established in national
law in compliance with the Berne Convention, may be
extended to the digital environment. Contracting States may
devise new exceptions and limitations appropriate to the
digital environment. The extension of existing or the
creation of new limitations and exceptions is allowed if the
conditions of the "three-step" test are met.
As to duration, the term of protection must be at least 50
years for any kind of work.
The enjoyment and exercise of the rights provided for in the
Treaty cannot be subject to any formality.
The Treaty obliges Contracting Parties to provide legal
remedies against the circumvention of technological
measures (e.g., encryption) used by authors in connection
with the exercise of their rights, and against the removal or
altering of information, such as certain data that identify
works or their authors, necessary for the management (e.g.,
licensing, collecting and distribution of royalties) of their
rights ("rights management information").
The Treaty obliges each Contracting Party to adopt, in
accordance with its legal system, the measures necessary to
ensure the application of the Treaty. In particular, each
Contracting Party must ensure that enforcement
procedures are available under its law so as to permit
effective action against any act of infringement of rights
covered by the Treaty. Such action must include expeditious
remedies to prevent infringement as well as remedies that
constitute a deterrent to further infringement.
The Treaty establishes an Assembly of the Contracting
Parties whose main task is to address matters concerning
the maintenance and development of the Treaty. It entrusts
to the Secretariat of WIPO the administrative tasks
concerning the Treaty.
 15 of 24

The Treaty was concluded in 1996 and entered into force in

2002.

The Treaty is open to States members of WIPO and to the

European Community. The Assembly constituted by the
Treaty may decide to admit other intergovernmental
organizations to become party to the Treaty. Instruments of
ratification or accession must be deposited with the Director
General of WIPO.
 16 of 24

WIPO PERFORMANCES AND PHONOGRAMS

As to unfixed (live) performances, the Treaty grants
TREATY (1996) performers:

a. the right of broadcasting (except in the case of

The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT)
rebroadcasting);
deals with the rights of two kinds of beneficiaries,
b. the right of communication to the public (except where
particularly in the digital environment:
the performance is a broadcast performance); and
c. the right of fixation.
a. performers (actors, singers, musicians, etc.); and
The Treaty also grants performers moral rights, that is, the
b. producers of phonograms (persons or legal entities that
right to claim to be identified as the performer and the right
take the initiative and have the responsibility for the
to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification
fixation of sounds).
that would be prejudicial to the performer's reputation.
These rights are addressed in the same instrument, because
As far as producers of phonograms are concerned, the
most of the rights granted by the Treaty to performers are
Treaty grants them economic rights in their phonograms:
rights connected to their fixed, purely aural performances
(which are the subject matter of phonograms).
a. the right of reproduction;
b. the right of distribution;
As far as performers are concerned, the Treaty grants
c. the right of rental; and
performers economic rights in their performances fixed in
d. the right of making available.
phonograms (not in audiovisual fixations, such as motion
pictures):
The right of reproduction is the right to authorize direct or
indirect reproduction of the phonogram in any manner or
a. the right of reproduction;
form.
b. the right of distribution;
c. the right of rental; and
The right of distribution is the right to authorize the making
d. the right of making available.
available to the public of the original and copies of the
phonogram through sale or other transfer of ownership.
The right of reproduction is the right to authorize direct or
indirect reproduction of the phonogram in any manner or
The right of rental is the right to authorize the commercial
form.
rental to the public of the original and copies of the
phonogram, as determined in the national law of the
The right of distribution is the right to authorize the making
Contracting Parties (except for countries that, since April 15,
available to the public of the original and copies of the
1994, have a system in force for equitable remuneration of
phonogram through sale or other transfer of ownership.
such rental).
The right of rental is the right to authorize the commercial
The right of making available is the right to authorize
rental to the public of the original and copies of the
making available to the public, by wire or wireless means, a
phonogram, as determined in the national law of the
phonogram in such a way that members of the public may
Contracting Parties (except for countries that, since April 15,
access the phonogram from a place and at a time
1994, have had a system in force for equitable remuneration
individually chosen by them. This right covers, in particular,
of such rental).
on-demand, interactive making available through the
Internet.
The right of making available is the right to authorize the
making available to the public, by wire or wireless means, of
The Treaty provides that performers and producers of
any performance fixed in a phonogram, in such a way that
phonograms have the right to a single equitable
members of the public may access the fixed performance
remuneration for the direct or indirect use of phonograms,
from a place and at a time individually chosen by them. This
published for commercial purposes, broadcasting or
right covers, in particular, on-demand, interactive making
communication to the public. However, any Contracting
available through the Internet.
Party may restrict or – provided that it makes a reservation
 17 of 24

to the Treaty – deny this right. In the case and to the extent The Treaty was concluded in 1996 and entered into force in
of a reservation by a Contracting Party, the other 2002.
Contracting Parties are permitted to deny, vis-à-vis the
reserving Contracting Party, national treatment The Treaty is open to States members of WIPO and to the
("reciprocity"). European Community. The Assembly constituted by the
Treaty may decide to admit other intergovernmental
As to limitations and exceptions, Article 16 of the WPPT organizations to become party to the Treaty. Instruments of
incorporates the so-called "three-step" test to determine ratification or accession must be deposited with the Director
limitations and exceptions, as provided for in Article 9(2) of General of WIPO.
the Berne Convention, extending its application to all rights.
The accompanying Agreed Statement provides that such
limitations and exceptions, as established in national law in
compliance with the Berne Convention, may be extended to
the digital environment. Contracting States may devise new
exceptions and limitations appropriate to the digital
environment. The extension of existing or the creation of
new limitations and exceptions is allowed if the conditions
of the "three-step" test are met.

The term of protection must be at least 50 years.

The enjoyment and exercise of the rights provided for in the

Treaty cannot be subject to any formality.

The Treaty obliges Contracting Parties to provide for legal

remedies against the circumvention of technological
measures (e.g., encryption) used by performers or
phonogram producers in connection with the exercise of
their rights, and against the removal or altering of
information – such as the indication of certain data that
identify the performer, performance, producer of the
phonogram and the phonogram itself – necessary for the
management (e.g., licensing, collecting and distribution of
royalties) of the said rights ("rights management
information").

The Treaty obliges each Contracting Party to adopt, in

accordance with its legal system, the measures necessary to
ensure the application of the Treaty. In particular, each
Contracting Party must ensure that enforcement
procedures are available under its law so as to permit
effective action against any act of infringement of rights
covered by the Treaty. Such action must include expeditious
remedies to prevent infringement as well as remedies that
constitute a deterrent to further infringement.

The Treaty establishes an Assembly of the Contracting

Parties whose main task is to address matters concerning
the maintenance and development of the Treaty. It entrusts
to the Secretariat of WIPO the administrative tasks
concerning the Treaty.
 18 of 24

AGREEMENT ON TRADE-RELATED ASPECTS OF 2. Enforcement. The second main set of provisions deals
with domestic procedures and remedies for the
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (TRIPS) enforcement of intellectual property rights. The
Agreement lays down certain general principles
Philippines: 1994
applicable to all IPR enforcement procedures. In
addition, it contains provisions on civil and
The TRIPS Agreement, which came into effect on 1 January
administrative procedures and remedies, provisional
1995, is to date the most comprehensive multilateral
measures, special requirements related to border
agreement on intellectual property.
measures and criminal procedures, which specify, in a
certain amount of detail, the procedures and remedies
The areas of intellectual property that it covers are:
that must be available so that right holders can
copyright and related rights (i.e. the rights of performers,
effectively enforce their rights.
producers of sound recordings and broadcasting
organizations); trademarks including service marks;
3. Dispute settlement. The Agreement makes disputes
geographical indications including appellations of origin;
between WTO Members about the respect of the TRIPS
industrial designs; patents including the protection of new
obligations subject to the WTO's dispute settlement
varieties of plants; the layout-designs of integrated circuits;
procedures.
and undisclosed information including trade secrets and test
data.
In addition the Agreement provides for certain basic
principles, such as national and most-favoured-nation
The three main features of the Agreement are:
treatment, and some general rules to ensure that
procedural difficulties in acquiring or maintaining IPRs do
1. Standards. In respect of each of the main areas of
not nullify the substantive benefits that should flow from
intellectual property covered by the TRIPS Agreement,
the Agreement. The obligations under the Agreement will
the Agreement sets out the minimum standards of
apply equally to all Member countries, but developing
protection to be provided by each Member. Each of the
countries will have a longer period to phase them in. Special
main elements of protection is defined, namely the
transition arrangements operate in the situation where a
subject-matter to be protected, the rights to be
developing country does not presently provide product
conferred and permissible exceptions to those rights,
patent protection in the area of pharmaceuticals.
and the minimum duration of protection. The
Agreement sets these standards by requiring, first, that
The TRIPS Agreement is a minimum standards agreement,
the substantive obligations of the main conventions of
which allows Members to provide more extensive
the WIPO, the Paris Convention for the Protection of
protection of intellectual property if they so wish. Members
Industrial Property (Paris Convention) and the Berne
are left free to determine the appropriate method of
Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic
implementing the provisions of the Agreement within their
Works (Berne Convention) in their most recent versions,
own legal system and practice.
must be complied with. With the exception of the
provisions of the Berne Convention on moral rights, all
CERTAIN GENERAL PROVISIONS
the main substantive provisions of these conventions
are incorporated by reference and thus become
As in the main pre-existing intellectual property
obligations under the TRIPS Agreement between TRIPS
conventions, the basic obligation on each Member country
Member countries. The relevant provisions are to be
is to accord the treatment in regard to the protection of
found in Articles 2.1 and 9.1 of the TRIPS Agreement,
intellectual property provided for under the Agreement to
which relate, respectively, to the Paris Convention and
the persons of other Members. Article 1.3 defines who these
to the Berne Convention. Secondly, the TRIPS
persons are. These persons are referred to as “nationals”
Agreement adds a substantial number of additional
but include persons, natural or legal, who have a close
obligations on matters where the pre-existing
attachment to other Members without necessarily being
conventions are silent or were seen as being
nationals. The criteria for determining which persons must
inadequate. The TRIPS Agreement is thus sometimes
thus benefit from the treatment provided for under the
referred to as a Berne and Paris-plus agreement.
Agreement are those laid down for this purpose in the main
pre-existing intellectual property conventions of WIPO,
applied of course with respect to all WTO Members whether

or not they are party to those conventions. These
conventions are the Paris Convention, the Berne
Convention, International Convention for the Protection of
Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting
Organizations (Rome Convention), and the Treaty on
Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits (IPIC
Treaty).
Articles 3, 4 and 5 include the fundamental rules on national
and most-favoured-nation treatment of foreign nationals,
which are common to all categories of intellectual property
covered by the Agreement. These obligations cover not only
the substantive standards of protection but also matters
affecting the availability, acquisition, scope, maintenance
and enforcement of intellectual property rights as well as
those matters affecting the use of intellectual property
rights specifically addressed in the Agreement. While the
national treatment clause forbids discrimination between a
Member's own nationals and the nationals of other
Members, the most-favoured-nation treatment clause
forbids discrimination between the nationals of other
Members. In respect of the national treatment obligation,
the exceptions allowed under the pre-existing intellectual
property conventions of WIPO are also allowed under TRIPS.
Where these exceptions allow material reciprocity, a
consequential exception to MFN treatment is also permitted
(e.g. comparison of terms for copyright protection in excess
of the minimum term required by the TRIPS Agreement as
provided under Article 7(8) of the Berne Convention as
incorporated into the TRIPS Agreement). Certain other
limited exceptions to the MFN obligation are also provided
for.
The general goals of the TRIPS Agreement are contained in
the Preamble of the Agreement, which reproduces the basic
Uruguay Round negotiating objectives established in the
TRIPS area by the 1986 Punta del Este Declaration and the
1988/89 Mid-Term Review. These objectives include the
reduction of distortions and impediments to international
trade, promotion of effective and adequate protection of
intellectual property rights, and ensuring that measures and
procedures to enforce intellectual property rights do not
themselves become barriers to legitimate trade. These
objectives should be read in conjunction with Article 7,
entitled “Objectives”, according to which the protection and
enforcement of intellectual property rights should
contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and
to the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the
mutual advantage of producers and users of technological
knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and
economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations.
Article 8, entitled “Principles”, recognizes the rights of
19 of 24
Members to adopt measures for public health and other
public interest reasons and to prevent the abuse of
intellectual property rights, provided that such measures
are consistent with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement.
SUBSTANTIVE STANDARDS OF PROTECTION
Copyright
During the Uruguay Round negotiations, it was recognized
that the Berne Convention already, for the most part,
provided adequate basic standards of copyright protection.
Thus it was agreed that the point of departure should be the
existing level of protection under the latest Act, the Paris Act
of 1971, of that Convention. The point of departure is
expressed in Article 9.1 under which Members are obliged
to comply with the substantive provisions of the Paris Act of
1971 of the Berne Convention, i.e. Articles 1 through 21 of
the Berne Convention (1971) and the Appendix thereto.
However, Members do not have rights or obligations under
the TRIPS Agreement in respect of the rights conferred
under Article 6bis of that Convention, i.e. the moral rights
(the right to claim authorship and to object to any
derogatory action in relation to a work, which would be
prejudicial to the author's honour or reputation), or of the
rights derived therefrom. The provisions of the Berne
Convention referred to deal with questions such as subject-
matter to be protected, minimum term of protection, and
rights to be conferred and permissible limitations to those
rights. The Appendix allows developing countries, under
certain conditions, to make some limitations to the right of
translation and the right of reproduction.
In addition to requiring compliance with the basic standards
of the Berne Convention, the TRIPS Agreement clarifies and
adds certain specific points.
Article 9.2 confirms that copyright protection shall extend to
expressions and not to ideas, procedures, methods of
operation or mathematical concepts as such.
Article 10.1 provides that computer programs, whether in
source or object code, shall be protected as literary works
under the Berne Convention (1971). This provision confirms
that computer programs must be protected under copyright
and that those provisions of the Berne Convention that
apply to literary works shall be applied also to them. It
confirms further, that the form in which a program is,
whether in source or object code, does not affect the
protection. The obligation to protect computer programs as
literary works means e.g. that only those limitations that are
applicable to literary works may be applied to computer

programs. It also confirms that the general term of
protection of 50 years applies to computer programs.
Possible shorter terms applicable to photographic works
and works of applied art may not be applied.
Article 10.2 clarifies that databases and other compilations
of data or other material shall be protected as such under
copyright even where the databases include data that as
such are not protected under copyright. Databases are
eligible for copyright protection provided that they by
reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents
constitute intellectual creations. The provision also confirms
that databases have to be protected regardless of which
form they are in, whether machine readable or other form.
Furthermore, the provision clarifies that such protection
shall not extend to the data or material itself, and that it
shall be without prejudice to any copyright subsisting in the
data or material itself.
Article 11 provides that authors shall have in respect of at
least computer programs and, in certain circumstances, of
cinematographic works the right to authorize or to prohibit
the commercial rental to the public of originals or copies of
their copyright works. With respect to cinematographic
works, the exclusive rental right is subject to the so-called
impairment test: a Member is excepted from the obligation
unless such rental has led to widespread copying of such
works which is materially impairing the exclusive right of
reproduction conferred in that Member on authors and
their successors in title. In respect of computer programs,
the obligation does not apply to rentals where the program
itself is not the essential object of the rental.
According to the general rule contained in Article 7(1) of the
Berne Convention as incorporated into the TRIPS
Agreement, the term of protection shall be the life of the
author and 50 years after his death. Paragraphs 2 through 4
of that Article specifically allow shorter terms in certain
cases. These provisions are supplemented by Article 12 of
the TRIPS Agreement, which provides that whenever the
term of protection of a work, other than a photographic
work or a work of applied art, is calculated on a basis other
than the life of a natural person, such term shall be no less
than 50 years from the end of the calendar year of
authorized publication, or, failing such authorized
publication within 50 years from the making of the work, 50
years from the end of the calendar year of making.
Article 13 requires Members to confine limitations or
exceptions to exclusive rights to certain special cases which
do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and
do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of
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the right holder. This is a horizontal provision that applies to
all limitations and exceptions permitted under the
provisions of the Berne Convention and the Appendix
thereto as incorporated into the TRIPS Agreement. The
application of these limitations is permitted also under the
TRIPS Agreement, but the provision makes it clear that they
must be applied in a manner that does not prejudice the
legitimate interests of the right holder.
Related rights
The provisions on protection of performers, producers of
phonograms and broadcasting organizations are included in
Article 14. According to Article 14.1, performers shall have
the possibility of preventing the unauthorized fixation of
their performance on a phonogram (e.g. the recording of a
live musical performance). The fixation right covers only
aural, not audiovisual fixations. Performers must also be in
position to prevent the reproduction of such fixations. They
shall also have the possibility of preventing the
unauthorized broadcasting by wireless means and the
communication to the public of their live performance.
In accordance with Article 14.2, Members have to grant
producers of phonograms an exclusive reproduction right.
In addition to this, they have to grant, in accordance with
Article 14.4, an exclusive rental right at least to producers of
phonograms. The provisions on rental rights apply also to
any other right holders in phonograms as determined in
national law. This right has the same scope as the rental
right in respect of computer programs. Therefore it is not
subject to the impairment test as in respect of
cinematographic works. However, it is limited by a so-called
grand-fathering clause, according to which a Member,
which on 15 April 1994, i.e. the date of the signature of the
Marrakesh Agreement, had in force a system of equitable
remuneration of right holders in respect of the rental of
phonograms, may maintain such system provided that the
commercial rental of phonograms is not giving rise to the
material impairment of the exclusive rights of reproduction
of right holders.
Broadcasting organizations shall have, in accordance with
Article 14.3, the right to prohibit the unauthorized fixation,
the reproduction of fixations, and the rebroadcasting by
wireless means of broadcasts, as well as the communication
to the public of their television broadcasts. However, it is not
necessary to grant such rights to broadcasting organizations,
if owners of copyright in the subject-matter of broadcasts
are provided with the possibility of preventing these acts,
subject to the provisions of the Berne Convention.

The term of protection is at least 50 years for performers
and producers of phonograms, and 20 years for
broadcasting organizations (Article 14.5).
Article 14.6 provides that any Member may, in relation to
the protection of performers, producers of phonograms and
broadcasting organizations, provide for conditions,
limitations, exceptions and reservations to the extent
permitted by the Rome Convention.
Trademarks
The basic rule contained in Article 15 is that any sign, or any
combination of signs, capable of distinguishing the goods
and services of one undertaking from those of other
undertakings, must be eligible for registration as a
trademark, provided that it is visually perceptible. Such
signs, in particular words including personal names, letters,
numerals, figurative elements and combinations of colours
as well as any combination of such signs, must be eligible for
registration as trademarks.
Where signs are not inherently capable of distinguishing the
relevant goods or services, Member countries are allowed
to require, as an additional condition for eligibility for
registration as a trademark, that distinctiveness has been
acquired through use. Members are free to determine
whether to allow the registration of signs that are not
visually perceptible (e.g. sound or smell marks).
Members may make registrability depend on use. However,
actual use of a trademark shall not be permitted as a
condition for filing an application for registration, and at
least three years must have passed after that filing date
before failure to realize an intent to use is allowed as the
ground for refusing the application (Article 14.3).
The Agreement requires service marks to be protected in
the same way as marks distinguishing goods (see e.g.
Articles 15.1, 16.2 and 62.3).
The owner of a registered trademark must be granted the
exclusive right to prevent all third parties not having the
owner's consent from using in the course of trade identical
or similar signs for goods or services which are identical or
similar to those in respect of which the trademark is
registered where such use would result in a likelihood of
confusion. In case of the use of an identical sign for identical
goods or services, a likelihood of confusion must be
presumed (Article 16.1).
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The TRIPS Agreement contains certain provisions on well-
known marks, which supplement the protection required by
Article 6bis of the Paris Convention, as incorporated by
reference into the TRIPS Agreement, which obliges
Members to refuse or to cancel the registration, and to
prohibit the use of a mark conflicting with a mark which is
well known. First, the provisions of that Article must be
applied also to services. Second, it is required that
knowledge in the relevant sector of the public acquired not
only as a result of the use of the mark but also by other
means, including as a result of its promotion, be taken into
account. Furthermore, the protection of registered well-
known marks must extend to goods or services which are
not similar to those in respect of which the trademark has
been registered, provided that its use would indicate a
connection between those goods or services and the owner
of the registered trademark, and the interests of the owner
are likely to be damaged by such use (Articles 16.2 and 3).
Members may provide limited exceptions to the rights
conferred by a trademark, such as fair use of descriptive
terms, provided that such exceptions take account of the
legitimate interests of the owner of the trademark and of
third parties (Article 17).
Initial registration, and each renewal of registration, of a
trademark shall be for a term of no less than seven years.
The registration of a trademark shall be renewable
indefinitely (Article 18).
Cancellation of a mark on the grounds of non-use cannot
take place before three years of uninterrupted non-use has
elapsed unless valid reasons based on the existence of
obstacles to such use are shown by the trademark owner.
Circumstances arising independently of the will of the
owner of the trademark, such as import restrictions or other
government restrictions, shall be recognized as valid
reasons of non-use. Use of a trademark by another person,
when subject to the control of its owner, must be recognized
as use of the trademark for the purpose of maintaining the
registration (Article 19).
It is further required that use of the trademark in the course
of trade shall not be unjustifiably encumbered by special
requirements, such as use with another trademark, use in a
special form, or use in a manner detrimental to its capability
to distinguish the goods or services (Article 20).
Geographical indications
Geographical indications are defined, for the purposes of
the Agreement, as indications which identify a good as

originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or
locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or
other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to
its geographical origin (Article 22.1). Thus, this definition
specifies that the quality, reputation or other characteristics
of a good can each be a sufficient basis for eligibility as a
geographical indication, where they are essentially
attributable to the geographical origin of the good.
In respect of all geographical indications, interested parties
must have legal means to prevent use of indications which
mislead the public as to the geographical origin of the good,
and use which constitutes an act of unfair competition
within the meaning of Article 10bis of the Paris Convention
(Article 22.2).
The registration of a trademark which uses a geographical
indication in a way that misleads the public as to the true
place of origin must be refused or invalidated ex officio if the
legislation so permits or at the request of an interested party
(Article 22.3).
Article 23 provides that interested parties must have the
legal means to prevent the use of a geographical indication
identifying wines for wines not originating in the place
indicated by the geographical indication. This applies even
where the public is not being misled, there is no unfair
competition and the true origin of the good is indicated or
the geographical indication is accompanied be expressions
such as “kind”, “type”, “style”, “imitation” or the like. Similar
protection must be given to geographical indications
identifying spirits when used on spirits. Protection against
registration of a trademark must be provided accordingly.
Article 24 contains a number of exceptions to the protection
of geographical indications. These exceptions are of
particular relevance in respect of the additional protection
for geographical indications for wines and spirits. For
example, Members are not obliged to bring a geographical
indication under protection, where it has become a generic
term for describing the product in question (paragraph 6).
Measures to implement these provisions shall not prejudice
prior trademark rights that have been acquired in good faith
(paragraph 5). Under certain circumstances, continued use
of a geographical indication for wines or spirits may be
allowed on a scale and nature as before (paragraph 4).
Members availing themselves of the use of these exceptions
must be willing to enter into negotiations about their
continued application to individual geographical indications
(paragraph 1). The exceptions cannot be used to diminish
the protection of geographical indications that existed prior
to the entry into force of the TRIPS Agreement (paragraph
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3). The TRIPS Council shall keep under review the application
of the provisions on the protection of geographical
indications (paragraph 2).
Industrial designs
Article 25.1 of the TRIPS Agreement obliges Members to
provide for the protection of independently created
industrial designs that are new or original. Members may
provide that designs are not new or original if they do not
significantly differ from known designs or combinations of
known design features. Members may provide that such
protection shall not extend to designs dictated essentially by
technical or functional considerations.
Article 25.2 contains a special provision aimed at taking into
account the short life cycle and sheer number of new
designs in the textile sector: requirements for securing
protection of such designs, in particular in regard to any
cost, examination or publication, must not unreasonably
impair the opportunity to seek and obtain such protection.
Members are free to meet this obligation through industrial
design law or through copyright law.
Article 26.1 requires Members to grant the owner of a
protected industrial design the right to prevent third parties
not having the owner's consent from making, selling or
importing articles bearing or embodying a design which is a
copy, or substantially a copy, of the protected design, when
such acts are undertaken for commercial purposes.
Article 26.2 allows Members to provide limited exceptions
to the protection of industrial designs, provided that such
exceptions do not unreasonably conflict with the normal
exploitation of protected industrial designs and do not
unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the
owner of the protected design, taking account of the
legitimate interests of third parties.
The duration of protection available shall amount to at least
10 years (Article 26.3). The wording “amount to” allows the
term to be divided into, for example, two periods of five
years.
Patents
The TRIPS Agreement requires Member countries to make
patents available for any inventions, whether products or
processes, in all fields of technology without discrimination,
subject to the normal tests of novelty, inventiveness and
industrial applicability. It is also required that patents be
available and patent rights enjoyable without discrimination

as to the place of invention and whether products are
imported or locally produced (Article 27.1).
There are three permissible exceptions to the basic rule on
patentability. One is for inventions contrary to ordre public
or morality; this explicitly includes inventions dangerous to
human, animal or plant life or health or seriously prejudicial
to the environment. The use of this exception is subject to
the condition that the commercial exploitation of the
invention must also be prevented and this prevention must
be necessary for the protection of ordre public or morality
(Article 27.2).
The second exception is that Members may exclude from
patentability diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods
for the treatment of humans or animals (Article 27.3(a)).
The third is that Members may exclude plants and animals
other than micro-organisms and essentially biological
processes for the production of plants or animals other than
non-biological and microbiological processes. However, any
country excluding plant varieties from patent protection
must provide an effective sui generis system of protection.
Moreover, the whole provision is subject to review four
years after entry into force of the Agreement (Article
27.3(b)).
The exclusive rights that must be conferred by a product
patent are the ones of making, using, offering for sale,
selling, and importing for these purposes. Process patent
protection must give rights not only over use of the process
but also over products obtained directly by the process.
Patent owners shall also have the right to assign, or transfer
by succession, the patent and to conclude licensing
contracts (Article 28).
Members may provide limited exceptions to the exclusive
rights conferred by a patent, provided that such exceptions
do not unreasonably conflict with a normal exploitation of
the patent and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate
interests of the patent owner, taking account of the
legitimate interests of third parties (Article 30).
The term of protection available shall not end before the
expiration of a period of 20 years counted from the filing
date (Article 33).
Members shall require that an applicant for a patent shall
disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and
complete for the invention to be carried out by a person
skilled in the art and may require the applicant to indicate
the best mode for carrying out the invention known to the
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inventor at the filing date or, where priority is claimed, at
the priority date of the application (Article 29.1).
If the subject-matter of a patent is a process for obtaining a
product, the judicial authorities shall have the authority to
order the defendant to prove that the process to obtain an
identical product is different from the patented process,
where certain conditions indicating a likelihood that the
protected process was used are met (Article 34).
Compulsory licensing and government use without the
authorization of the right holder are allowed, but are made
subject to conditions aimed at protecting the legitimate
interests of the right holder. The conditions are mainly
contained in Article 31. These include the obligation, as a
general rule, to grant such licences only if an unsuccessful
attempt has been made to acquire a voluntary licence on
reasonable terms and conditions within a reasonable period
of time; the requirement to pay adequate remuneration in
the circumstances of each case, taking into account the
economic value of the licence; and a requirement that
decisions be subject to judicial or other independent review
by a distinct higher authority. Certain of these conditions are
relaxed where compulsory licences are employed to remedy
practices that have been established as anticompetitive by
a legal process. These conditions should be read together
with the related provisions of Article 27.1, which require
that patent rights shall be enjoyable without discrimination
as to the field of technology, and whether products are
imported or locally produced.
Layout-designs of integrated circuits
Article 35 of the TRIPS Agreement requires Member
countries to protect the layout-designs of integrated circuits
in accordance with the provisions of the IPIC Treaty (the
Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated
Circuits), negotiated under the auspices of WIPO in 1989.
These provisions deal with, inter alia, the definitions of
“integrated circuit” and “layout-design (topography)”,
requirements for protection, exclusive rights, and
limitations, as well as exploitation, registration and
disclosure. An “integrated circuit” means a product, in its
final form or an intermediate form, in which the elements,
at least one of which is an active element, and some or all of
the interconnections are integrally formed in and/or on a
piece of material and which is intended to perform an
electronic function. A “layout-design (topography)” is
defined as the three-dimensional disposition, however
expressed, of the elements, at least one of which is an active
element, and of some or all of the interconnections of an
integrated circuit, or such a three-dimensional disposition
 24 of 24

prepared for an integrated circuit intended for manufacture.
The obligation to protect layout-designs applies to such
layout-designs that are original in the sense that they are the
result of their creators' own intellectual effort and are not
commonplace among creators of layout-designs and
manufacturers of integrated circuits at the time of their
creation. The exclusive rights include the right of
reproduction and the right of importation, sale and other
distribution for commercial purposes. Certain limitations to
these rights are provided for.
In addition to requiring Member countries to protect the
layout-designs of integrated circuits in accordance with the
provisions of the IPIC Treaty, the TRIPS Agreement clarifies
and/or builds on four points. These points relate to the term
of protection (ten years instead of eight, Article 38), the
applicability of the protection to articles containing
infringing integrated circuits (last sub clause of Article 36)
and the treatment of innocent infringers (Article 37.1). The
conditions in Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement apply
mutatis mutandis to compulsory or non-voluntary licensing
of a layout-design or to its use by or for the government
without the authorization of the right holder, instead of the
provisions of the IPIC Treaty on compulsory licensing (Article
37.2).
Protection of undisclosed information
The TRIPS Agreement requires undisclosed information --
trade secrets or know-how -- to benefit from protection.
According to Article 39.2, the protection must apply to
information that is secret, that has commercial value
because it is secret and that has been subject to reasonable
steps to keep it secret. The Agreement does not require
undisclosed information to be treated as a form of property,
but it does require that a person lawfully in control of such
information must have the possibility of preventing it from
being disclosed to, acquired by, or used by others without
his or her consent in a manner contrary to honest
commercial practices. “Manner contrary to honest
commercial practices” includes breach of contract, breach
of confidence and inducement to breach, as well as the
acquisition of undisclosed information by third parties who
knew, or were grossly negligent in failing to know, that such
practices were involved in the acquisition.
commercial use. In addition, Members must protect such
data against disclosure, except where necessary to protect
the public, or unless steps are taken to ensure that the data
are protected against unfair commercial use.
Control of anti-competitive practices in contractual
licences
Article 40 of the TRIPS Agreement recognizes that some
licensing practices or conditions pertaining to intellectual
property rights which restrain competition may have
adverse effects on trade and may impede the transfer and
dissemination of technology (paragraph 1). Member
countries may adopt, consistently with the other provisions
of the Agreement, appropriate measures to prevent or
control practices in the licensing of intellectual property
rights which are abusive and anti-competitive (paragraph 2).
The Agreement provides for a mechanism whereby a
country seeking to take action against such practices
involving the companies of another Member country can
enter into consultations with that other Member and
exchange publicly available non-confidential information of
relevance to the matter in question and of other
information available to that Member, subject to domestic
law and to the conclusion of mutually satisfactory
agreements concerning the safeguarding of its
confidentiality by the requesting Member (paragraph 3).
Similarly, a country whose companies are subject to such
action in another Member can enter into consultations with
that Member (paragraph 4).

The Agreement also contains provisions on undisclosed test

data and other data whose submission is required by
governments as a condition of approving the marketing of
pharmaceutical or agricultural chemical products which use
new chemical entities. In such a situation the Member
government concerned must protect the data against unfair