Transcript Importance of Intellectual Property

Importance of Intellectual
Property
• Central issue in multilateral trade relations
– Need for organization to see that there are
intellectual property procedures within
countries and across borders
• Impact of the Internet—intensifies the
issues
– Issue of domain names
– Intellectual property easily sharable online
World Intellectual Property
Organization
• History
– 1883 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial
Property
• 14 member states, covered patents, trademarks, industrial
designs
– 1886 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary
and Artistic Works
• Covered literary works, musical works, paintings, sculptures,
and architectural works
• Both Conventions had “International Bureaus” which were
united in 1893 and became BIRPI
– 1970 became WIPO; 1974 became specialized agency
of the UN
WIPO
• Headquartered in Geneva
– Secretariat, Director General, General Assembly,
Coordinating Committee
– 90% of support from registration programs
• 183 member nations
– member of Paris or Berne Unions; member of the UN;
or invited to join
• administers 24 treaties or “unions” having to do with
intellectual property—16 on industrial property and 6 on
copyright and the convention that created WIPO
More on WIPO
• Arbitration and mediation center
– Maintain list of 800 mediators and arbitrators
– Establish arbitration rules
– Provide an alternative to court action
– Accredited by ICANN to administer cases filed
under ICANN regarding domain name disputes
Intellectual Property
• Copyright and rights related to copyright
– literary and artistic works of authors protected
for 50 years after death of author
– rights of performers, phonograms, and
broadcast organizations
• Industrial Property
– trademarks, geographical indications, patents,
industrial designs, trade secrets
Intellectual Property Conventions
(treaties)
• Paris convention for the protection of industrial property; Berne
convention for the protection of literary and artistic works
• International convention for the protection of performers,
producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations (Rome
Convention of 1961)
• Hague system for registration of industrial designs; Madrid
system for registration of marks
• Treaty on intellectual property in respect to integrated circuits
(1989)
• Trademark Law Treaty (1994)
• Performances and Phonograms Treaty (1996)
• Copyright Treaty (1996)
WTO linkage
• January 1, 1996, WIPO agreement with
WTO
– cooperation between International Bureau of
WIPO and Secretariat of WTO to help
developing nations, and to oversee the
implementation and use of intellectual property
regulations and laws of the WTO members
Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS agreement)
• Effective January 1, 1995
• Most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual
property
• Applies trade principles to the area of intellectual property
rights, including MFN and national treatment
• Three sections of the TRIPS agreement
– standards (incorporates other conventions by reference and adds
more)
– enforcement--domestic procedures and remedies (general
principles for all WTO members to follow)
– dispute settlement--disputes among WTO members subject to
WTO procedures
Types of intellectual property
included in TRIPS
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Copyrights
Trademarks
Geographical indicators
Industrial designs
Patents
Layout designs of integrated circuits
Undisclosed information like trade secrets
TRIPS agreement
• General goals are those of the basic
Uruguay Round negotiating objectives
– reduction of distortions and impediments to
international trade
– promotion of effective and adequate protection
of intellectual property,
– ensuring measures to enforce intellectual
property rights aren’t a barrier to legitimate
trade
Interesting points of the TRIPS
agreement
• Computer programs protected as literary works,
whether in source or object code (Copyright
Treaty of 1996)
• databases protected by copyright also
• performers shall have the right to prevent
unauthorized recording of a live performance
(doesn’t cover audiovisual, only aural fixations);
also have right to prevent unauthorized broadcast
of live performances
More points
• Internal enforcement procedures
– must be fair and equitable, not unnecessarily costly or
complicated; decisions to be found on merits of case
and rendered in writing; judicial appeal possible
– countries can use existing judicial system for
enforcement
– civil procedures must be available also and must
include rules of evidence, due process, etc.
• Border enforcement procedures
– cooperation of customs administrations
Transitional arrangements
• Developed nations who are WTO members
subject to TRIPS since January 1, 1996
• Developing nations had a general transition period
of 5 years, until January 1, 2000, with least
developed till 2006.
• Developed nations in market transition had till
2000 if moving to a free-market economy,
undertaking structural reform of intellectual
property system, or facing special problems of
enforcement
Treaties to cover cross-boarder
filings
• Patent cooperation treaty
– Single patent application valid in many
countries—once file, can decide in which
countries to pursue application
• Madrid and Hague systems
– 20,000 registrations of marks and 6,750
industrial designs registered
Classification of intellectual
property
• 4 WIPO treaties organize information
– Strasbourg Agreement—patent classification
– Nice Agreement—classification of goods and
services for registration of marks
– Vienna Agreement—classification of figurative
elements of marks (logos)
– Locarno Agreement—classification for
industrial designs