PARIS CONVENTION

By Abhinav Trehan

11LLB003

INTRODUCTION The Paris convention is for the

protection of intellectual Property. It was signed in Paris, France, on March

20, 1883, was one of the first intellectual property treaties.

It was revised at Brussels in 1900, at Washington in 1911, at The Hague in 1925, at London in 1934, at Lisbon in 1958 and at Stockholm in 1967, and it was amended in 1979

To Protect the unwanted loss of eligibility for patent protection through publication of patent applications and participation in international exhibitions.

The desire that the diverse patent laws of nations be harmonized to some degree.

HISTORY•The challenge then facing inventors caused many who had been invited to the Austria-Hungary international exhibition of inventions held in Vienna in 1873.

•leading to the enactment of a special Austrian law that secured temporary protection to exhibitors

•That congress resolved that an international diplomatic conference tasked with determining the basis of uniform legislation in the field of industrial property

HISTORY•A draft convention proposing an international “union” for the protection of industrial property was circulated by the French Government together with an invitation to attend the International Conference in Paris in 1880

•The 1880 Conference adopted a draft convention containing many of the provisions that underlie the Paris Convention today

•A Diplomatic Conference was convened in Paris in 1883, which ended with final approval and signature of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

PRINCIPAL PROVISIONS National Treatment

The Right of Priority

Independence of protection

COMMON RULES FOR PATENTS

The Principle of Independence of Patents Importation of Patented Products or Products

Made from Patented Processes Failure to Work and Compulsory Licenses Patents in International Traffic. Inventions Shown and Marks Exhibited at

International Exhibitions.

COMMON RULES CONCERNING TRADEMARKS Cancellation for Non-Use

Use in a Form Different from the Form Registered

Independence of Trademarks Protection for Unregistered Well-Known

Marks

CONT… State Emblems, Official Hallmarks and

Emblems of International Organizations. Service Marks Industrial Designs Appellations of Origin and Indications of

Source:

COMMON RULES CONCERNING UNFAIR COMPETITION

Article 10ter of the Convention obligates members of the Union “to undertake to assure to nationals of the other countries of the Union appropriate legal remedies effectively to repress all the acts [of unfair competition] referred to in Articles 9, 10, and \10bis.”The Article 9 refers to goods unlawfully bearing a trademark or trade name. Article 10 refers to goods, discussed above, bearing a false appellation of origin or indication of source. Article 10bis of the Convention offers a more generic concept of unfair competition.

GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS Article 12 of the Convention obligates

member states to establish a central industrial property service, either itself or through a regional organization, responsible for communicating with the public on matters of patents, trademarks and the like, which service must also publish an official periodical journal.