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International Conventions
Intellectual property has a dual nature, i.e. it has both a national and international dimension. For instance, patents are governed by national laws and rules of a given country, while international conventions on patents ensure minimum rights and provide certain measures for enforcement of rights by the contracting States.
Within Europe, the European Union is pushing for the harmonisation of both substantive and procedural laws.
General Conventions
Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property Rights signed in Paris on 20 March 1883, as last revised on 14 July 1967 (Paris Convention)
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights including trade in counterfeit goods (TRIPS Agreement) part of the GATT Uruguay Round signed in April 1994.
The TRIPS Agreement, negotiated during the Uruguay Round, sets minimum standards for most categories of IPRs.
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works Paris Act of 24 July 1971. This was first drafted on 9 September 1886, completed in Paris on 4 May 1896, revised in Berlin on 13 November 1908, completed in Berne on 20 March 1914, revised: Rome 2 June 1928, Brussels 26 June 1948, Stockholm 14 July 1967, Paris 24 July 1971 and amended on 28 September 1979.
Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), signed at Stockholm on 14 July 1967, amended on 28 September 1979
Patents
Patent Cooperation Treaty of 19 June 1970, signed at Washington on 19 June 1970, amended on 28 September 1979,
modified on 3 February 1984 and 3 October 2001
Patent Law Treaty adopted at Geneva 2 June 2000
Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification, signed on 24 March 1971, amended on 28 September 1979
Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973
Community Patent Regulation - proposal for a Council Regulation agreed on in 2003
Trademarks
Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) adopted at Geneva on 27 October 1994
The Madrid Agreement (April 1891) and Protocol (June 1989) concerning the International Registration of Marks
Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purpose of the Registration of Marks signed at Nice on 15 June 1957
Vienna Agreement establishing an international classification of the Figurative elements of Marks, signed at Vienna on 12 June 1973, as amended on 1 October 1985
Community Trademark Regulation no. 40/94 of 20 December 1993
Industrial designs
The Hague Agreement for the international deposit of industrial design, signed 28 November 1960. With one simple filing with the WIPO Office located in Geneva, the holder enjoys protection in one or several of the 29 countries party to the Agreement.
Locarno Agreement establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs signed at Locarno on 8 October 1968, as amended on 28 September 1979
The Community Design (98/71/EC). As of 1 April 2003 a uniform protection system, requiring registration at the Alicante Office for Harmonisation in the internal market, and valid throughout the Community, came into force. This system, set up under a Regulation adopted by the EU Council of Ministers on 12 December 2001 (98/71/EC), basically aims at fostering creativity and innovation, and reducing counterfeiting and piracy within the internal market. The registration procedure is simple and inexpensive.
Some types of designs are not covered by the Community design, such as component parts not visible once incorporated into complex projects or designs dictated by function of the product. This Community Design protection coexists with national protection systems and does not replace them.
Topographies of semi-conductor products
The Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits (Washington, 26 May 1989). Contracting parties constitute themselves into a Union and have the obligation to secure protection throughout its territory. Any member of WIPO or the UN may become party to this Treaty.
Community Directive No. 87/54/EEC of 16 December 1986
Copyright and related rights
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1986)
Universal Copyright Convention (1952)
International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations, the Rome Convention (1961)
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, the TRIPS Agreement (1994)
Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite, adopted at Brussels on 21 May 1974
World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WCT) adopted in Geneva on 20 December 1996
Convention on Cybercrime, adopted at Budapest 23 November 2001
Community Council Directives on copyright and neighbouring rights
Directive 87/54/EEC of 16 December 1986 on the legal protection of topographies of semiconductor products
Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs
Directive 92/100/EEC of November 19, 1992 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of Intellectual Property
Directive 93/83/EEC of 27 September 1993 on the coordination of certain rules concerning copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission
Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonising the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights
Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases
Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society
Directive 2001/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the resale right for the benefit of the author of an original work of art
Last update: 8 December 2004 | 
