International treaties and conventions

The national nature of intellectual property laws

IP laws are almost always national in nature. However, there are many conventions and treaties under which nations agree to provide minimum levels of IP protection, and to protect IP created by nationals of other countries.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) administers over 20 treaties and conventions on the registration, classification and protection of IP. Details of the treaties it administers, and the parties to those treaties, can be found on its website. This subtopic examines some of the key conventions and treaties it administers.

For further information, see Practice Note: Intellectual property international treaties and conventions.

International aspects of copyright

An international system of copyright enforcement exists and it is established by four conventions. The effect of use of the conventions is that copyright can be enforced cross-border. At the heart of the system is the principle of national treatment. This means that a copyright owner will be treated as if they are a national

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Latest IP News

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IP weekly highlights—11 September 2025

This week's edition of IP weekly highlights includes: a hand-picked summary of news analysis, updates and new content from the world of IP. These highlights focus on the key rights of copyright and associated rights, database rights, trade marks and passing off, designs, and patents as well as covering issues relating to confidential information, know-how R&D and IP disputes all mainly from a UK and European perspective.

UK signs Riyadh Design Law Treaty

IP analysis: The UK has become the 15th signatory of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty, which aims to harmonise procedures and reduce administrative burdens for protecting designs across multiple countries. Such harmonisation would be greatly welcomed as there is currently wild variation between the procedures enforced by different countries. The fact that key players, such as the US and China, are not yet signatories leads to some uncertainty over whether the treaty will be effective in achieving its goals. However, by being the first country with a well-established IP office to sign the treaty, the UK has interestingly positioned itself to potentially act as a template for other countries to follow, which could be very beneficial to UK designers. Written by Jack Livsey and Jason Teng, both UK and European patent attorneys and design practitioners at Potter Clarkson LLP.