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.

IP international treaties and conventions

Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property 1883

The Paris Convention was the first convention to harmonise the IP laws of its contracting states. It currently has 179 contracting states.

The Paris Convention applies to patents, trade marks, industrial designs, utility models, service marks, trade names, geographical indications and the repression of unfair competition. The key provision of this convention is that each contracting state must grant the same protection to nationals of other contracting states as it does to its own nationals.

Berne Convention for the

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