International Treaties Related To Intellectual Property
Rights:-
Some of the important international treaties related to
intellectual property rights, of which India is a member, are as follows:
A. Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial
Property
B. Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works
C. Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
D. Budapest
E. Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the
International Registration of Marks:
F. Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO)
G. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
H. Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS)
A. Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial
Property
Adopted on March 20, 1883 at Paris and entered in to force on
July 7, 1884. The main objective of the convention is to give protection for
obtaining, maintaining and enforcing the industrial property of the member nations
The important features of the Paris Conventionare :-
1. National treatment:- National treatment means
that, as regards the protection of industrial property ,each Country party to
the Paris Convention must grant the same protection to nationals of the Other
member countries asit grants to its own
2. Right of priority:- The right of priority means
that,on the basis of a regular application for an industrial property right
filed by a given applicantin one of the member countries, the same applicant
may, within a specified period of time (sixor12 months), apply for protection
in all the other member countries.
3. Independence of patents:- It means that the grant of a patent for invention in one country for a given invention does not oblige any other member country to grant a patent for invention for the same invention.
Adopted on September 9, 1886 at Berne and entered into force
on December4, 1887. This Convention on Copyrights rests on three basic
principles–
1. National treatment: - according to which works
originating in one of the member States are to be given the same protection in
each of the member States as these grant tobworks of their own nationals.
2. Automatic protection:- according to which such
national treatment is not dependent on any formality; in other words protection
is granted automatically and is not subject to the formality of registration,
deposit or the like.
3. Independence of protection:- according to which
enjoyment and exercise of the rights granted is independent of the existence of
protection in the country of origin of the work.
- it also contains a series of provisions determining the
minimum protection to be granted.
- It came in to force in India on April1,1928.
Adopted on June19, 1970 at WashingtonD.C.and entered in to
force on January 24, 1978. It facilitates patent protection for an invention
simultaneously in a large number of Countries;
- it came in to force in India from December7, 1998
1. Establishes an international system which enables the filing, with a single Patent Office (the “receiving Office”), of a single application ( the “international application”)in one language having effect in each of the countries party to the PCT which the applicant names (“designates”)in his application provides for the form al examination of the International application by a single Patent Office, the receiving Office.
D. Budapest:-
Adopted on April 28,1977at Budapest and entered in to force
on August19,1980.
- It provides guidelines for the deposition of
micro-organisms with any "international depositary authority" for the
purpose of patent procedures.
- This treaty came in to force in India from December17,2001.
E. Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks:-
Adopted on June27, 1989 at Madrid and entered in to force on
December1,1995.
- The Madrid Agreement facilitates the registration of
trademarks outsidevIndia;
- it came into force in India fromJuly 8,2013.
F. Convention Establishing the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO)
Adopted on July14, 1967 at Stockholm and entered into force
on April26,1970. WIPO was established under this Convention with two main
objectives
i. to promote the protection of intellectual property
worldwide and
ii. To ensure administrative cooperation among the
intellectual property Unions established by the treaties that WIPO administers.
- India became a member on May 1, 1975.
- Provide services for international application for
industrial property rights.
- Exchange intellectual property information among member
countries.
- Provide legal and technical assistance to developing and other countries Resolve the private disputes on intellectual property and harmonizes the intellectual property(IP) laws and procedures.
G. General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed
in1947, and came into force on1January1948 signed by 2 states.
- It was amended in1966 and lasted until 1993 when it was
replaced by the WTO (World Trade Organization) in1995.
- It is one of the important agencies of the United Nations,
which provides better and wider protection for the private patent holders of
the developed nations than the Paris Convention. GATT was the outcome of the
failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade
Organization (ITO).
- It is a multilateral agreement regulating trade among
about150 countries.
- Adopted on April15, 1994 at Marrakesh and entered into
force on January 1,1995.
- WTO was established to provide the common institutional
framework for the conduct of trade relations among its Members in matters
related to the agreements and associated legal instruments.
- India became a member to this agreement on January 1,1995.
- WTO is the successor organization to the General Agreement
onTarrifs and Trade (GATT).
- In1995 WTO was established, which replaced the GATT.
- WTO intends to supervise and liberalize international
trade and officially commenced on1January1995.
- It had157 members (till2012) of which117are developing
countries.
- The headquarters of WTO is at Geneva, Switzerland.
i. Negotiation to reduce or eradicate hindrances in trade
and agreeing on rules that govern the conduct of internal trade.
ii. Administrating and monitoring the application of WTO
trade agreement rules in goods, trade in services, IPR.
iii. Reviewing the trade related policies of WTO members as
well as ensuring transparency in regional and bilateral trade agreement.
iv. Settling disputes among its members regarding
interpretation and application of the trade agreement. Educating public about
WTO, its mission and its activities.
v. Conducting economic research.
Adopted on April15,1994 at Marrakesh and entered in to force
on January1,1995.
- The TRIPS agreement covers various types of intellectual
property and provides guidelines for minimum standards for protection,
procedures and remedies for enforcement of IPR rights and for issues related to
dispute settlement. India became a member on January1,1995
- The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights(TRIPS)is an international agreement administered by the World
Trade Organization
- TRIPS is the most important and comprehensive
international agreement on Intellectual Property rights
- It was formed at the end of the Uruguay Round of the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in1994.
- The TRIPS agreement introduced intellectual property law
in to the international trading system for the first time.
The TRIPs Agreement has 3 basic features:
1. Standards:- The agreement sets out the minimum standards of protection that has to be provided by each member country. The main TRIPs standards, relating to pharmaceuticals, that countries must include in their patent law are:
Availability ofpatents for both pharmaceutical products and processes inventions that are new, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application.
Protection of the product directly obtained using a patented process. Availability of procedures at national level to enable patent owners to protect their rights against infringement
2. Enforcement: - It deals with the internal methods
or procedures for the enforcement of IPR.
3. Dispute settlement:- The agreement makes disputes
between WTO members in respect of TRIPs obligations subject to the WTO’s
dispute settlement procedures.
- It makes it compulsory for the member countries to provide
patents for products and processes in all fields of technology, subject to the
tests of novelty, inventiveness and industrial use.
- It mandates patenting of ‘micronon--organisms’,
microbiological and biological processes. The members are allowed to make only
limited exclusions from patentability.
- It also gives option to the states for protecting new
plant varieties through patents or through the effective sui generis system.
- It ensures that the protection and enforcement of
intellectual property rights should contribute to the promotion of
technological innovation for the mutual advantage of producers and users of
technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic
welfare
In 1997 USA complained to WTO that India has failed to meet the basic commitment to TRIPs.
The dispute settlement body of WTO observes that India has failed to provide the ‘mailbox’ system of protection to the concern products and the established system for the grant of exclusive marketing right to such patent.
Ultimately, India has been given time till April 1999 to make
the above provisions of failing which USA could call for appropriate Sanctions.
The Indian patent act 1970 has now been amended as the
Indian patent (amendment) act 1999 and the amendments listed below came into
force on January first 1999.
i. Product patent are allowed except for some specified
medicines/ drugs.
ii. A provision for grand top ‘exclusive marketing right’
(section 21.5 .1) has been made up to December 31st 2004.
iii. The provisions in relation to compulsory license shall
subject to necessary modifications apply to ‘exclusive marketing right’ as
well.
iv. In the interest of security of India, the Government of
India may not disclosure any information relating to any patentable inventions
and take action including the revocation of any patent provided the intention
for the same is notified in the official gazette before using any action.
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