The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation as applied to nationals of other WTO Members.

It was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994. The TRIPS agreement introduced intellectual property law into the international trading system for the first time and remains the most comprehensive international agreement on intellectual property to date

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Came into force:- 1st Jan 1995

Include most of Berne convention Rules

- Obligation under TRIPS apply to all member equally but developing countries were given more time to make changes in their national  laws. I.e. Implemented within 6 years i.e. 31st December 200 for developed countries

- TRIPS included provisions regarding :

• National Treatment (Article 3)

• Most Favoured Nation (Article 4): With regard to the protection of intellectual property, any advantage, favour, privilege or immunity  granted by a Member to the nationals of any other country shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the nationals of all other Members.

- The TRIPS agreement sets out standards of protection to its members

- Enforcement of IPR's, provides procedures, remedies, provisional measures in detail.

- WTO's dispute settlement procedures apply.

- TRIPS plus: In recent years, many developing countries have been coming under pressure to enact or implement even tougher or more restrictive conditions in their patent laws than are required by the TRIPS Agreement - these are known as 'TRIPS plus' provisions.

 

 

- It is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations.

- The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.

- It is the largest international economic organization in the world.

 

 

The establishment of WTO as a result of institutionalization of international framework of trade calls for harmonization of several aspects of Indian Law relating to Intellectual Property Rights. The TRIPS agreement set minimum standards for protection for IPR rights and also set a time frame within which countries were required to make changes in their laws to comply with the required degree of protection. In view of this, India has taken action to modify and amend the various IP Acts in the last few years.

 

 

- The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed in Paris, France, on Paris March 20, 1883, was one of the first intellectual property treaties.

- It established a Union for the protection of industrial property. The Convention is still in force.

- The Paris Convention is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), based in Geneva, Switzerland.

- India’s membership into the convention came into force on December 7, 1998.

- The Convention applies to industrial property in the widest sense, including patents, marks, industrial designs, utility models, trade names, geographical indications and the repression of unfair competition. The substantive provisions of the Convention may be divided into three main categories namely national treatment, right of priority, common rules

 

 

- The agreement was established in 1891 for the purpose of providing a mechanism that would allow for a single and inexpensive international trademark registration and to eliminate the need for filing, prosecuting or maintaining separate registrations in multiple countries.

- Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks:

- Adopted on June 27, 1989 at Madrid and entered into force on December 1, 1995. The Madrid Agreement facilitates the registration of trademarks outside India; it came into force in India from July 8, 2013.

 

-  The Madrid Agreement and Protocol are open to any State which is party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

-  States and organizations party to the Madrid system are collectively referred to as Contracting Parties.

- The system makes it possible to protect a mark in a large number of countries by obtaining an international registration that has effect in each of the designated Contracting Parties.

- The system of international registration of marks is governed by two treaties: the Madrid Agreement, and the Protocol relating to that Agreement.

 

 

- The new EU Trademark formerly know as the Community Trademark (CTM), the new European Union Intellectual Property Office EUIPO, formerly known as the Office for the Harmonization in the Internal Market.

- The new EU trade mark Regulation enters into force on March 23rd. As a result, the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) will change its name to the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

- Claiming all Nice class headings in a given class no longer automatically claims ALL goods and services in the class, even if they do not fall under the class headings (e.g. translation services). There is a grace period of 6 months to claim all goods in a given class.

- Trademarks that are registered with the EUIPO have the privilege of protection  throughout all 27 European Union member states.

 

 

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was established by a convention of 14 July 1967, which entered into force in 1970. The origin of WIPO goes back to 1883 and 1886 when the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, respectively, were concluded. Both Conventions provided for theestablishment of an international bureau. The two bureaus were united in 1893 and, in 1970, were replaced by the World Intellectual Property Organization, by virtue of the WIPO Convention. WIPO’s objectives are to promote intellectual property protection throughout the world through co-operation among states and, where appropriate, in collaboration with any other international organization. WIPO also aims to ensure administrative cooperation among the intellectual property unions created by the Paris and Berne Conventions and sub-treaties concluded by the members of the Paris Union.

 Treaties are:- 

The Nice Agreement on the International classification of goods and services for the purposes of registration of trademarks.

The Vienna Agreement for setting up an International classification of the figurative elements of trademarks.

The Locarno Agreement for establishing an International classification for industrial designs.

All three agreements are administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization.

- Nice Agreement

The Nice Agreement establishes a classification of goods and services for the purposes of registering trademarks and service marks (the Nice Classification). India follows the NICE Classification of Goods and Services for the purpose of registration of trademarks. The NICE Classification groups goods and services into 45 classes (classes 1-34 include goods and classes 35-45 include services). The NICE Classification is recognized in majority of the countries and makes applying for trademarks internationally a streamlined process. Every business entity, seeking to register trademark for a good or service, has to choose from the appropriate class, out of the 45 classes.

- Vienna Agreement

The purpose of the Vienna classification is to facilitate trademark anticipation searches at the international level (as a first step to protecting trademarks, it is advised to conduct a trademark search to make sure that the mark in question is not already in use by another).

- Locarno Agreement

The Locarno Classification is solely of an “administrative character”. It does not bind the contracting countries with regard to the nature and scope of the protection afforded to the design in those countries.

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In conclusion, there are several international conventions and treaties that provide a framework for the protection and registration of trademarks. These include the Paris Convention, which sets out the basic principles of trademark protection, the Madrid Agreement and Protocol, which establish a central system for the international registration of trademarks, and the TRIPS Agreement, which sets out minimum standards for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, including trademarks. The Nice Agreement provides a system for the classification of goods and services for the purpose of trademark registration, while the Singapore Treaty establishes international standards for the registration and management of trademarks. These international conventions and treaties help to ensure that trademark protection is consistent and effective across different countries, and provide trademark owners with a framework for seeking protection and enforcement of their trademarks on a global scale.

 

 

Article Compiled by:-

Mayank Garg

+91 9582627751

Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to avoid errors or omissions in this material in spite of this, errors may creep in. Any mistake, error or discrepancy noted may be brought to our notice which shall be taken care of in the next edition In no event the author shall be liable for any direct indirect, special or incidental damage resulting from or arising out of or in connection with the use of this information Many sources have been considered including newspapers, Journals, Bare Acts, Case Material. Charted Secretary etc.