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International
agreements
Multilateral agreements
Multilateral IP Agreements to which Australia is a party – excluding
copyright related agreements
IP Protection Agreements
Global Protection System Agreements
Classification Agreements
Other IP-related Agreements
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
The Paris Convention is concerned with the protection of industrial property, which includes patents, industrial designs and trade marks, and with the repression of unfair competition.
In a key provision the Paris Convention requires each member country to accord nationals of other member countries the same rights for their industrial property as it accords to its own nationals. It provides a right of priority for applicants for patents, trade marks and designs in any of the member countries deriving from the date of the first application for the invention, trade mark or design concerned in any other member country, provided the subsequent applications are made within a prescribed period (12 months for patents and utility models, and 6 months for industrial designs and marks) after the first application.
The Paris Convention does not seek to establish a uniform international industrial property system as such, but rather to establish an international framework upon which the national laws of its member countries can be built.
Australia has been a member of the Paris Convention since October 1925.
On 30 September 2009 there were 173 members of the convention. The text of the Paris Convention and a list of member countries can be found here.
World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
The TRIPS Agreement provides minimum standards of IP protection with members having flexibility to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of the Agreement within their own legal system and practice. The TRIPS Agreement is administered by the WTO and all WTO members are contracting parties.
Article 2 of TRIPS incorporates all substantive provisions of the Paris Convention.
As is usual in IP conventions, TRIPS contains national treatment provisions, under which the nationals of other members must be given treatment no less favourable than that accorded to a member’s own nationals with regard to intellectual property protection.
There is also a Most-Favoured-Nation provision - a first in an IP convention. Under this provision, with certain well established exceptions, any advantage or benefit a member gives to the nationals of another member country must be extended immediately and unconditionally to the nationals of all other members-even if this treatment is more favourable than that which it accords to its own nationals.
TRIPS also includes provisions for the prevention and settlement of disputes in respect of the implementation of its provisions.
Australia became a member of TRIPS on 1 January 1995 when it first came into force.
On 30 September 2009 there were 153 members of the World Trade Organisation. Developing countries had until 1 January 2005 to implement the provisions of TRIPS. Least developed countries had until 2006 – this has now been extended until 1 January 2016 with respect to pharmaceutical patents.
The text of TRIPS can be found here and a list of WTO members can be found here.
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV)
The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) was established by the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention).
The UPOV Convention provides the international legal framework for the granting of plant breeders’ rights which are a key element in encouraging breeders to pursue and enhance their search for improved varieties with benefits such as higher yield and quality and better resistance to pests and diseases. Plant breeders’ rights thereby help to enhance sustainable agriculture, productivity, income, international trade and economic development in general.
The UPOV Convention was adopted on December 2, 1961, by a Diplomatic Conference held in Paris. It came into force on August 10, 1968 and was revised on November 10, 1972, on October 23, 1978, and on March 19, 1991, in order to reflect technological developments in plant breeding and experience acquired with the application of the UPOV Convention.
Australia became a member of UPOV in 1989 by acceding to the version of the Convention in place at that time (UPOV 1978). UPOV 1991 entered into force on 24 April 1998 and Australia became a member of the revised Convention on 20 January 2000.
On 30 September 2009 there were 67 Members of the UPOV Convention.
The text of the UPOV Convention can be found here and a list of members can be found here.
Trademark Law Treaty
The Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) is aimed at making national and regional trade mark registration systems more user-friendly by simplifying and harmonising procedures, primarily, with trade mark offices.
Australia became a member of the TLT in October 1997.
On 30 September 2009 there were 45 members of the TLT. The text of the TLT and a list of member countries can be found here.
Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks
The Singapore Treaty builds on the Trademark Law Treaty. It reflects the worldwide growth in e-commerce, providing consistent rules for electronic lodgement of trade mark applications and associated communications. It further simplifies and streamlines administrative procedures such as recordal of licences. Where a member country allows them, it sets the maximum requirements a the member may require for applications with non-visible or non-traditional signs. It also provides measures for relief in case of failure to comply with time limits and for correction of errors in some circumstances.
Australia became a member of the Singapore Treaty when it ratified it on 16 December 2008. This was the tenth ratification of the Singapore Treaty which allowed it to enter into force on 16 March 2009.
On 30 September 2009 there were 13 members of the Singapore Treaty. The text of the Singapore Treaty and a list of member countries can be found here.
Patent Law Treaty (PLT)
The Patent Law Treaty simplifies and harmonises the formal requirements member countries can apply in relation to patent applications and establishes important safeguards against loss of rights on procedural grounds. In simplifying and standardising the requirements, the PLT offers patent applicants and patent offices a number of advantages including: use of standardised forms that reduce the risk of error; simplified procedures leading to cost reductions for inventors, applicants, patent attorneys and patent offices; and enhanced legal certainty for applicants filing in their home country and abroad.
Australia became a member of the PLT on 16 March 2009.
On 30 September 2009 there were 20 members of the PLT. The text of the PLT and a list of member countries can be found here.
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
The PCT provides a unified system through which to apply for patent protection in member countries. The PCT permits the filing of a single international application in a member country to have the effect of a national filing in each of the PCT member countries unless indicated otherwise by the applicant under Rule 4.9(b) of the PCT Regulations.
The international application is subjected to a mandatory international search and may undergo an international preliminary examination before each designated country determines under its national laws whether to grant or refuse a patent.
Australia has been a member of the PCT since March 1980. IP Australia (the Australian Patent Office) acts as a receiving office, international searching authority and international preliminary examining authority under the PCT.
On 30 September 2009 there were 141 members of the PCT. The text of the PCT and a list of member countries can be found here.
Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks
The Madrid system of international registration of marks is applicable among the member countries of the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol.
This system gives a trademark owner the possibility to have their mark protected in several countries by simply filing one application with a single Office, in one language, with one set of fees in one currency (Swiss francs).
An international registration produces the same effects as an application for registration of the mark made in each of the countries designated by the applicant. If protection is not refused by the trade mark Office of a designated country within a specified period (12 or 18 months), the protection of the mark is the same as if it had been registered by that Office. The Madrid system simplifies greatly also the subsequent management of the mark, since it is possible to record subsequent changes (such as a change in ownership or a change in the name or address of the holder) or to renew the registration through a simple single procedural step with the International Bureau of WIPO. Further countries may be designated subsequently.
Australia has been a member of the Madrid Protocol since July 2001.
On 30 September 2009 there were 79 members of the Madrid Protocol. The text of the Madrid Protocol and a list of member countries can be found here.
Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition
of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure
The Budapest Treaty provides for the deposit of microorganisms in an international depositary authority (IDA) where a deposit is necessary to satisfy the descriptive requirements of patents legislation for inventions involving a microorganism or the use of a microorganism. The deposit assures access to the microorganism by persons other than the inventor for the purposes of testing or experimenting, or for commercial use when the patent expires.
Under the treaty a member country which allows or requires the deposit of microorganisms for the purposes of patent procedure must recognise, for such purposes, one deposit of a microorganism with any IDA, irrespective of its location.
Australia has been a member of the Budapest Treaty since July 1987. The National Measurement Institute (formerly Australian Government Analytical Laboratories) acquired the status of an IDA in September 1988.
On 30 September 2009 there were 72 members of the Budapest Treaty.
The text of the Budapest Treaty and a list of member countries can be found here.
Nice Agreement for the International Classification
of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks
The Nice Agreement establishes a classification for trade marks which consists of a list of 34 classes for marks which are applied to goods and 11 classes for marks which relate to services. There is also an alphabetical list of goods and services comprising approximately 11,000 items.
Australia became a member of the Nice Agreement in April 1961 and uses the classification of goods and services which has been developed under this Agreement.
On 30 September 2009 there were 83 members of the Nice Agreement.
The text of the Nice Agreement and a list of member countries can be found here.
Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International
Patent Classification
The Strasbourg Agreement established an international system for the classification of patent documents to identify noteworthy technical content. The purpose behind the agreement is to replace the individual classification systems of national patent offices by a uniform International Patent Classification (IPC) system for patent documents of all member countries, thus facilitating information retrieval and international comparisons.
Australia has been a member of the Strasbourg Agreement since November 1975. The IPC has been the sole classification system used for Australian patent documents since 1976.
On 30 September there were 81 members of the Strasbourg Agreement.
The text of the Strasbourg Agreement and a list of member countries can be found here.
Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO)
WIPO is an intergovernmental organisation with headquarters in Geneva and is one of the 16 United Nations specialised agencies. WIPO is responsible for promoting intellectual property throughout the world through cooperation among member states and for the administration of various unions, each founded by a multilateral treaty and dealing with the legal and administrative aspects of intellectual property (including each of the treaties mentioned above with the exception of TRIPS).
WIPO was established in 1970, but its origins go back to 1883 and 1886 with the Paris and Berne Conventions (a copyright-related treaty).
On 30 September 2009 there were 184 members of the WIPO Convention.
The text of the WIPO Convention and a list of member countries can be found here.
Australia has been a member of WIPO since August 1972 and was a member of its predecessor, the United International Bureau for the Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI).
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