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STATE SERVICE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
AND INNOVATION UNDER THE
GOVERNMENT OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
Council inventors
Authors Union
Council for related rights holders
International Documents
International Agreements under the WIPO administration
The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights in the framework of the WTO
Eurasian Patent Convention
Intergovernmental multilateral agreements within the framework of the CIS-countries
Intergovernmental bilateral agreements
Interdepartmental Agreements
Agreements in the field of collective management
Legal framework of the Eurasian Economic Union
Codes and Laws of the Kyrgyz Republic
Delegated legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic
Resolution of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic
Regulation of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic
Departmental acts
Orders on record keeping
Инвентаризация НПА
State program for IP and Innovation Development in the KR
Decree of the Government of the KR
State program for Intellectual Property and Innovation Development in the Kyrgyz Republic
Plan of actions for realization of Program
Матрица индикаторов
Normative Legal Acts
База данных инновационных проектов
Collective Management
What is a collective management?
Rates on authors remunerations
Council of the Holders of Related Rights
Useful information for authors
Useful information for performers
To the attention of copyright users
Looking for authors
Official bulletin "Intellectualdyk Menchik"
Periodical publications
Bulletin of Kyrgyzpatent: Issues on intellectual Property and innovations
Publications of Kyrgyzpatent
Patent literature
Creativity promotion
Analytical materials
Legislation | International Documents | Agreements in the field of collective management | Laws_ | International Agreements
IP objects
Copyright Objects
Related rights subject matters
Innovation proposals
Appellation of origin
Computer software and databases
Topographies of Integrated Circuits
Selection achievements
Traditional knowledges
National database of Trademarks
Databases of patent offices
Disputes in the field of the IP
International document
Межправительственные двухсторонние соглашения
Межведомственные соглашения
Соглашения в области коллективного управления авторскими и смежными правами
Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled
The Kyrgyz Republic
joined by the Law of the KR
of March 27, 2017 No. 50
adopted by the Diplomatic Conference to Conclude a Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities in Marrakesh, on June 27, 2013
Relation to Other Conventions and Treaties
Beneficiary Persons
National Law Limitations and Exceptions Regarding Accessible Format Copies
Cross-Border Exchange of Accessible Format Copies
Importation of Accessible Format Copies
Obligations Concerning Technological Measures
Respect for Privacy
Cooperation to Facilitate Cross-Border Exchange
Article 10:
General Principles on Implementation
General Obligations on Limitations and Exceptions
Other Limitations and Exceptions
Eligibility for Becoming Party to the Treaty
Rights and Obligations Under the Treaty
Signature of the Treaty
Entry into Force of the Treaty
Effective Date of Becoming Party to the Treaty
Denunciation of the Treaty
Languages of the Treaty
The Contracting Parties,
Recalling the principles of non-discrimination, equal opportunity, accessibility and full and effective participation and inclusion in society, proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
Mindful of the challenges that are prejudicial to the complete development of persons with visual impairments or with other print disabilities, which limit their freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds on an equal basis with others, including through all forms of communication of their choice, their enjoyment of the right to education, and the opportunity to conduct research,
Emphasizing the importance of copyright protection as an incentive and reward for literary and artistic creations and of enhancing opportunities for everyone, including persons with visual impairments or with other print disabilities, to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share scientific progress and its benefits,
Aware of the barriers of persons with visual impairments or with other print disabilities to access published works in achieving equal opportunities in society, and the need to both expand the number of works in accessible formats and to improve the circulation of such works,
Taking into account that the majority of persons with visual impairments or with other print disabilities live in developing and least-developed countries,
Recognizing that, despite the differences in national copyright laws, the positive impact of new information and communication technologies on the lives of persons with visual impairments or with other print disabilities may be reinforced by an enhanced legal framework at the international level,
Recognizing that many Member States have established limitations and exceptions in their national copyright laws for persons with visual impairments or with other print disabilities, yet there is a continuing shortage of available works in accessible format copies for such persons, and that considerable resources are required for their effort of making works accessible to these persons, and that the lack of possibilities of cross-border exchange of accessible format copies has necessitated duplication of these efforts,
Recognizing both the importance of rightholders' role in making their works accessible to persons with visual impairments or with other print disabilities and the importance of appropriate limitations and exceptions to make works accessible to these persons, particularly when the market is unable to provide such access,
Recognizing the need to maintain a balance between the effective protection of the rights of authors and the larger public interest, particularly education, research and access to information, and that such a balance must facilitate effective and timely access to works for the benefit of persons with visual impairments or with other print disabilities,
Reaffirming the obligations of Contracting Parties under the existing international treaties on the protection of copyright and the importance and flexibility of the three-step test for limitations and exceptions established in Article 9(2) of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and other international instruments,
Recalling the importance of the Development Agenda recommendations, adopted in 2007 by the General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which aim to ensure that development considerations form an integral part of the Organization's work,
Recognizing the importance of the international copyright system and desiring to harmonize limitations and exceptions with a view to facilitating access to and use of works by persons with visual impairments or with other print disabilities,
Nothing in this Treaty shall derogate from any obligations that Contracting Parties have to each other under any other treaties, nor shall it prejudice any rights that a Contracting Party has under any other treaties.
For the purposes of this Treaty:
(a) "works" means literary and artistic works within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, in the form of text, notation and/or related illustrations, whether published or otherwise made publicly available in any media [1];
(b) "accessible format copy" means a copy of a work in an alternative manner or form which gives a beneficiary person access to the work, including to permit the person to have access as feasibly and comfortably as a person without visual impairment or other print disability. The accessible format copy is used exclusively by beneficiary persons and it must respect the integrity of the original work, taking due consideration of the changes needed to make the work accessible in the alternative format and of the accessibility needs of the beneficiary persons;
(c) "authorized entity" means an entity that is authorized or recognized by the government to provide education, instructional training, adaptive reading or information access to beneficiary persons on a non-profit basis. It also includes a government institution or non-profit organization that provides the same services to beneficiary persons as one of its primary activities or institutional obligations [2].
An authorized entity establishes and follows its own practices:
(i) to establish that the persons it serves are beneficiary persons;
(ii) to limit to beneficiary persons and/or authorized entities its distribution and making available of accessible format copies;
(iii) to discourage the reproduction, distribution and making available of unauthorized copies; and
(iv) to maintain due care in, and records of, its handling of copies of works, while respecting the privacy of beneficiary persons in accordance with Article 8.
A beneficiary person is a person who:
(a) is blind;
(b) has a visual impairment or a perceptual or reading disability which cannot be improved to give visual function substantially equivalent to that of a person who has no such impairment or disability and so is unable to read printed works to substantially the same degree as a person without an impairment or disability; or [3]
(c) is otherwise unable, through physical disability, to hold or manipulate a book or to focus or move the eyes to the extent that would be normally acceptable for reading;
regardless of any other disabilities.
1.(a) Contracting Parties shall provide in their national copyright laws for a limitation or exception to the right of reproduction, the right of distribution, and the right of making available to the public as provided by the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), to facilitate the availability of works in accessible format copies for beneficiary persons. The limitation or exception provided in national law should permit changes needed to make the work accessible in the alternative format.
(b) Contracting Parties may also provide a limitation or exception to the right of public performance to facilitate access to works for beneficiary persons.
2. A Contracting Party may fulfill Article 4(1) for all rights identified therein by providing a limitation or exception in its national copyright law such that:
(a) Authorized entities shall be permitted, without the authorization of the copyright rightholder, to make an accessible format copy of a work, obtain from another authorized entity an accessible format copy, and supply those copies to beneficiary persons by any means, including by non-commercial lending or by electronic communication by wire or wireless means, and undertake any intermediate steps to achieve those objectives, when all of the following conditions are met:
(i) the authorized entity wishing to undertake said activity has lawful access to that work or a copy of that work;
(ii) the work is converted to an accessible format copy, which may include any means needed to navigate information in the accessible format, but does not introduce changes other than those needed to make the work accessible to the beneficiary person;
(iii) such accessible format copies are supplied exclusively to be used by beneficiary persons; and
(iv) the activity is undertaken on a non-profit basis;
(b) A beneficiary person, or someone acting on his or her behalf including a primary caretaker or caregiver, may make an accessible format copy of a work for the personal use of the beneficiary person or otherwise may assist the beneficiary person to make and use accessible format copies where the beneficiary person has lawful access to that work or a copy of that work.
3. A Contracting Party may fulfill Article 4(1) by providing other limitations or exceptions in its national copyright law pursuant to Articles 10 and 11 [4].
4. A Contracting Party may confine limitations or exceptions under this Article to works which, in the particular accessible format, cannot be obtained commercially under reasonable terms for beneficiary persons in that market. Any Contracting Party availing itself of this possibility shall so declare in a notification deposited with the Director General of WIPO at the time of ratification of, acceptance of or accession to this Treaty or at any time thereafter [5].
5. It shall be a matter for national law to determine whether limitations or exceptions under this Article are subject to remuneration.
1. Contracting Parties shall provide that if an accessible format copy is made under a limitation or exception or pursuant to operation of law, that accessible format copy may be distributed or made available by an authorized entity to a beneficiary person or an authorized entity in another Contracting Party [6].
2. A Contracting Party may fulfill Article 5(1) by providing a limitation or exception in its national copyright law such that:
(a) authorized entities shall be permitted, without the authorization of the rightholder, to distribute or make available for the exclusive use of beneficiary persons accessible format copies to an authorized entity in another Contracting Party; and
(b) authorized entities shall be permitted, without the authorization of the rightholder and pursuant to Article 2(c), to distribute or make available accessible format copies to a beneficiary person in another Contracting Party;
provided that prior to the distribution or making available the originating authorized entity did not know or have reasonable grounds to know that the accessible format copy would be used for other than beneficiary persons [7].
3. A Contracting Party may fulfill Article 5(1) by providing other limitations or exceptions in its national copyright law pursuant to Articles 5(4), 10 and 11.
(a) When an authorized entity in a Contracting Party receives accessible format copies pursuant to Article 5(1) and that Contracting Party does not have obligations under Article 9 of the Berne Convention, it will ensure, consistent with its own legal system and practices, that the accessible format copies are only reproduced, distributed or made available for the benefit of beneficiary persons in that Contracting Party's jurisdiction.
(b) The distribution and making available of accessible format copies by an authorized entity pursuant to Article 5(1) shall be limited to that jurisdiction unless the Contracting Party is a Party to the WIPO Copyright Treaty or otherwise limits limitations and exceptions implementing this Treaty to the right of distribution and the right of making available to the public to certain special cases which do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the rightholder [8], [9].
(c) Nothing in this Article affects the determination of what constitutes an act of distribution or an act of making available to the public.
5. Nothing in this Treaty shall be used to address the issue of exhaustion of rights.
To the extent that the national law of a Contracting Party would permit a beneficiary person, someone acting on his or her behalf, or an authorized entity, to make an accessible format copy of a work, the national law of that Contracting Party shall also permit them to import an accessible format copy for the benefit of beneficiary persons, without the authorization of the rightholder [10].
Contracting Parties shall take appropriate measures, as necessary, to ensure that when they provide adequate legal protection and effective legal remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures, this legal protection does not prevent beneficiary persons from enjoying the limitations and exceptions provided for in this Treaty [11].
In the implementation of the limitations and exceptions provided for in this Treaty, Contracting Parties shall endeavor to protect the privacy of beneficiary persons on an equal basis with others.
1. Contracting Parties shall endeavor to foster the cross-border exchange of accessible format copies by encouraging the voluntary sharing of information to assist authorized entities in identifying one another. The International Bureau of WIPO shall establish an information access point for this purpose.
2. Contracting Parties undertake to assist their authorized entities engaged in activities under Article 5 to make information available regarding their practices pursuant to Article 2(c), both through the sharing of information among authorized entities, and through making available information on their policies and practices, including related to cross-border exchange of accessible format copies, to interested parties and members of the public as appropriate.
3. The International Bureau of WIPO is invited to share information, where available, about the functioning of this Treaty.
4. Contracting Parties recognize the importance of international cooperation and its promotion, in support of national efforts for realization of the purpose and objectives of this Treaty [12].
1. Contracting Parties undertake to adopt the measures necessary to ensure the application of this Treaty.
2. Nothing shall prevent Contracting Parties from determining the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of this Treaty within their own legal system and practice [13].
3. Contracting Parties may fulfill their rights and obligations under this Treaty through limitations or exceptions specifically for the benefit of beneficiary persons, other limitations or exceptions, or a combination thereof, within their national legal system and practice. These may include judicial, administrative or regulatory determinations for the benefit of beneficiary persons as to fair practices, dealings or uses to meet their needs consistent with the Contracting Parties' rights and obligations under the Berne Convention, other international treaties, and Article 11.
In adopting measures necessary to ensure the application of this Treaty, a Contracting Party may exercise the rights and shall comply with the obligations that that Contracting Party has under the Berne Convention, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the WIPO Copyright Treaty, including their interpretative agreements so that:
(a) in accordance with Article 9(2) of the Berne Convention, a Contracting Party may permit the reproduction of works in certain special cases provided that such reproduction does not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author;
(b) in accordance with Article 13 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, a Contracting Party shall confine limitations or exceptions to exclusive rights to certain special cases which do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the rightholder;
(c) in accordance with Article 10(1) of the WIPO Copyright Treaty, a Contracting Party may provide for limitations of or exceptions to the rights granted to authors under the WCT in certain special cases, that do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author;
(d) in accordance with Article 10(2) of the WIPO Copyright Treaty, a Contracting Party shall confine, when applying the Berne Convention, any limitations of or exceptions to rights to certain special cases that do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author.
1. Contracting Parties recognize that a Contracting Party may implement in its national law other copyright limitations and exceptions for the benefit of beneficiary persons than are provided by this Treaty having regard to that Contracting Party's economic situation, and its social and cultural needs, in conformity with that Contracting Party's international rights and obligations, and in the case of a least-developed country taking into account its special needs and its particular international rights and obligations and flexibilities thereof.
2. This Treaty is without prejudice to other limitations and exceptions for persons with disabilities provided by national law.
1.(a) The Contracting Parties shall have an Assembly.
(b) Each Contracting Party shall be represented in the Assembly by one delegate who may be assisted by alternate delegates, advisors and experts.
(c) The expenses of each delegation shall be borne by the Contracting Party that has appointed the delegation. The Assembly may ask WIPO to grant financial assistance to facilitate the participation of delegations of Contracting Parties that are regarded as developing countries in conformity with the established practice of the General Assembly of the United Nations or that are countries in transition to a market economy.
(a) The Assembly shall deal with matters concerning the maintenance and development of this Treaty and the application and operation of this Treaty.
(b) The Assembly shall perform the function allocated to it under Article 15 in respect of the admission of certain intergovernmental organizations to become party to this Treaty.
(c) The Assembly shall decide the convocation of any diplomatic conference for the revision of this Treaty and give the necessary instructions to the Director General of WIPO for the preparation of such diplomatic conference.
3.(a) Each Contracting Party that is a State shall have one vote and shall vote only in its own name.
(b) Any Contracting Party that is an intergovernmental organization may participate in the vote, in place of its Member States, with a number of votes equal to the number of its Member States which are party to this Treaty. No such intergovernmental organization shall participate in the vote if any one of its Member States exercises its right to vote and vice versa.
4. The Assembly shall meet upon convocation by the Director General and, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, during the same period and at the same place as the General Assembly of WIPO.
5. The Assembly shall endeavor to take its decisions by consensus and shall establish its own rules of procedure, including the convocation of extraordinary sessions, the requirements of a quorum and, subject to the provisions of this Treaty, the required majority for various kinds of decisions.
The International Bureau of WIPO shall perform the administrative tasks concerning this Treaty.
1. Any Member State of WIPO may become party to this Treaty.
2. The Assembly may decide to admit any intergovernmental organization to become party to this Treaty which declares that it is competent in respect of, and has its own legislation binding on all its Member States on, matters covered by this Treaty and that it has been duly authorized, in accordance with its internal procedures, to become party to this Treaty.
3. The European Union, having made the declaration referred to in the preceding paragraph at the Diplomatic Conference that has adopted this Treaty, may become party to this Treaty.
Subject to any specific provisions to the contrary in this Treaty, each Contracting Party shall enjoy all of the rights and assume all of the obligations under this Treaty.
This Treaty shall be open for signature at the Diplomatic Conference in Marrakesh, and thereafter at the headquarters of WIPO by any eligible party for one year after its adoption.
This Treaty shall enter into force three months after 20 eligible parties referred to in Article 15 have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession.
This Treaty shall bind:
(a) the 20 eligible parties referred to in Article 18, from the date on which this Treaty has entered into force;
(b) each other eligible party referred to in Article 15, from the expiration of three months from the date on which it has deposited its instrument of ratification or accession with the Director General of WIPO.
This Treaty may be denounced by any Contracting Party by notification addressed to the Director General of WIPO. Any denunciation shall take effect one year from the date on which the Director General of WIPO received the notification.
1. This Treaty is signed in a single original in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish languages, the versions in all these languages being equally authentic.
2. An official text in any language other than those referred to in Article 21(1) shall be established by the Director General of WIPO on the request of an interested party, after consultation with all the interested parties. For the purposes of this paragraph, "interested party" means any Member State of WIPO whose official language, or one of whose official languages, is involved and the European Union, and any other intergovernmental organization that may become party to this Treaty, if one of its official languages is involved.
The Director General of WIPO is the depositary of this Treaty.
Done in Marrakesh on the 27th day of June, 2013.
1 Agreed statement concerning Article 2(a): For the purposes of this Treaty, it is understood that this definition includes such works in audio form, such as audiobooks.
2 Agreed statement concerning Article 2(c): For the purposes of this Treaty, it is understood that "entities recognized by the government" may include entities receiving financial support from the government to provide education, instructional training, adaptive reading or information access to beneficiary persons on a non-profit basis.
3 Agreed statement concerning Article 3(b): Nothing in this language implies that "cannot be improved" requires the use of all possible medical diagnostic procedures and treatments.
4 Agreed statement concerning Article 4(3): It is understood that this paragraph neither reduces nor extends the scope of applicability of limitations and exceptions permitted under the Berne Convention, as regards the right of translation, with respect to persons with visual impairments or with other print disabilities.
5 Agreed statement concerning Article 4(4): It is understood that a commercial availability requirement does not prejudge whether or not a limitation or exception under this Article is consistent with the three-step test.
6 Agreed statement concerning Article 5(1): It is further understood that nothing in this Treaty reduces or extends the scope of exclusive rights under any other treaty.
7 Agreed statement concerning Article 5(2): It is understood that, to distribute or make available accessible format copies directly to a beneficiary person in another Contracting Party, it may be appropriate for an authorized entity to apply further measures to confirm that the person it is serving is a beneficiary person and to follow its own practices as described in Article 2(c).
8 Agreed statement concerning Article 5(4)(b): It is understood that nothing in this Treaty requires or implies that a Contracting Party adopt or apply the three-step test beyond its obligations under this instrument or under other international treaties.
9 Agreed statement concerning Article 5(4)(b): It is understood that nothing in this Treaty creates any obligations for a Contracting Party to ratify or accede to the WCT or to comply with any of its provisions and nothing in this Treaty prejudices any rights, limitations and exceptions contained in the WCT.
10 Agreed statement concerning Article 6: It is understood that the Contracting Parties have the same flexibilities set out in Article 4 when implementing their obligations under Article 6.
11 Agreed statement concerning Article 7: It is understood that authorized entities, in various circumstances, choose to apply technological measures in the making, distribution and making available of accessible format copies and nothing herein disturbs such practices when in accordance with national law.
12 Agreed statement concerning Article 9: It is understood that Article 9 does not imply mandatory registration for authorized entities nor does it constitute a precondition for authorized entities to engage in activities recognized under this Treaty; but it provides for a possibility for sharing information to facilitate the cross-border exchange of accessible format copies.
13 Agreed statement concerning Article 10(2): It is understood that when a work qualifies as a work under Article 2(a), including such works in audio form, the limitations and exceptions provided for by this Treaty apply mutatis mutandis to related rights as necessary to make the accessible format copy, to distribute it and to make it available to beneficiary persons.
The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs Geneva Act of July 2, 1999
The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs
Geneva Act of July 2, 1999
INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS
Abbreviated Expressions
For the purposes of this Act:
(i) "the Hague Agreement" means the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs, henceforth renamed the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs;
(ii) "this Act" means the Hague Agreement as established by the present Act;
(iii) "Regulations" means the Regulations under this Act;
(iv) "prescribed" means prescribed in the Regulations;
(v) "Paris Convention" means the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed at Paris on March 20, 1883, as revised and amended;
(vi) "international registration" means the international registration of an industrial design effected according to this Act;
(vii) "international application" means an application for international registration;
(viii) "International Register" means the official collection of data concerning international registrations maintained by the International Bureau, which data this Act or the Regulations require or permit to be recorded, regardless of the medium in which such data are stored;
(ix) "person" means a natural person or a legal entity;
(x) "applicant" means the person in whose name an international application is filed;
(xi) "holder" means the person in whose name an international registration is recorded in the International Register;
(xii) "intergovernmental organization" means an intergovernmental organization eligible to become party to this Act in accordance with Article 27(1)(ii);
(xiii) "Contracting Party" means any State or intergovernmental organization party to this Act;
(xiv) "applicant's Contracting Party" means the Contracting Party or one of the Contracting Parties from which the applicant derives its entitlement to file an international application by virtue of satisfying, in relation to that Contracting Party, at least one of the conditions specified in Article 3; where there are two or more Contracting Parties from which the applicant may, under Article 3, derive its entitlement to file an international application, "applicant's Contracting Party" means the one which, among those Contracting Parties, is indicated as such in the international application;
(xv) "territory of a Contracting Party" means, where the Contracting Party is a State, the territory of that State and, where the Contracting Party is an intergovernmental organization, the territory in which the constituent treaty of that intergovernmental organization applies;
(xvi) "Office" means the agency entrusted by a Contracting Party with the grant of protection for industrial designs with effect in the territory of that Contracting Party;
(xvii) "Examining Office" means an Office which ex officio examines applications filed with it for the protection of industrial designs at least to determine whether the industrial designs satisfy the condition of novelty;
(xviii) "designation" means a request that an international registration have effect in a Contracting Party; it also means the recording, in the International Register, of that request;
(xix) "designated Contracting Party" and "designated Office" means the Contracting Party and the Office of the Contracting Party, respectively, to which a designation applies;
(xx) "1934 Act" means the Act signed at London on June 2, 1934, of the Hague Agreement;
(xxi) "1960 Act" means the Act signed at The Hague on November 28, 1960, of the Hague Agreement;
(xxii) "1961 Additional Act" means the Act signed at Monaco on November 18, 1961, additional to the 1934 Act;
(xxiii) "Complementary Act of 1967" means the Complementary Act signed at Stockholm on July 14, 1967, as amended, of the Hague Agreement;
(xxiv) "Union" means the Hague Union established by the Hague Agreement of November 6, 1925, and maintained by the 1934 and 1960 Acts, the 1961 Additional Act, the Complementary Act of 1967 and this Act;
(xxv) "Assembly" means the Assembly referred to in Article 21(1)(a) or any body replacing that Assembly;
(xxvi) "Organization" means the World Intellectual Property Organization;
(xxvii) "Director General" means the Director General of the Organization;
(xxviii) "International Bureau" means the International Bureau of the Organization;
(xxix) "instrument of ratification" shall be construed as including instruments of acceptance or approval.
Applicability of Other Protection Accorded by Laws of Contracting Parties and by Certain International Treaties
(1) [Laws of Contracting Parties and Certain International Treaties] The provisions of this Act shall not affect the application of any greater protection which may be accorded by the law of a Contracting Party, nor shall they affect in any way the protection accorded to works of art and works of applied art by international copyright treaties and conventions, or the protection accorded to industrial designs under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights annexed to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.
(2) [Obligation to Comply with the Paris Convention] Each Contracting Party shall comply with the provisions of the Paris Convention which concern industrial designs.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION AND INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION
Entitlement to File an International Application
Any person that is a national of a State that is a Contracting Party or of a State member of an intergovernmental organization that is a Contracting Party, or that has a domicile, a habitual residence or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the territory of a Contracting Party, shall be entitled to file an international application.
Procedure for Filing the International Application
(1) [Direct or Indirect Filing]
(a) The international application may be filed, at the option of the applicant, either directly with the International Bureau or through the Office of the applicant's Contracting Party.
(b) Notwithstanding subparagraph (a), any Contracting Party may, in a declaration, notify the Director General that international applications may not be filed through its Office.
(2) [Transmittal Fee in Case of Indirect Filing] The Office of any Contracting Party may require that the applicant pay a transmittal fee to it, for its own benefit, in respect of any international application filed through it.
Contents of the International Application
(1) [Mandatory Contents of the International Application] The international application shall be in the prescribed language or one of the prescribed languages and shall contain or be accompanied by
(i) a request for international registration under this Act;
(ii) the prescribed data concerning the applicant;
(iii) the prescribed number of copies of a reproduction or, at the choice of the applicant, of several different reproductions of the industrial design that is the subject of the international application, presented in the prescribed manner; however, where the industrial design is two-dimensional and a request for deferment of publication is made in accordance with paragraph (5), the international application may, instead of containing reproductions, be accompanied by the prescribed number of specimens of the industrial design;
(iv) an indication of the product or products which constitute the industrial design or in relation to which the industrial design is to be used, as prescribed;
(v) an indication of the designated Contracting Parties;
(vi) the prescribed fees;
(vii) any other prescribed particulars.
(2) [Additional Mandatory Contents of the International Application]
(a) Any Contracting Party whose Office is an Examining Office and whose law, at the time it becomes party to this Act, requires that an application for the grant of protection to an industrial design contain any of the elements specified in subparagraph (b) in order for that application to be accorded a filing date under that law may, in a declaration, notify the Director General of those elements.
(b) The elements that may be notified pursuant to subparagraph (a) are the following:
(i) indications concerning the identity of the creator of the industrial design that is the subject of that application;
(ii) a brief description of the reproduction or of the characteristic features of the industrial design that is the subject of that application;
(iii) a claim.
(c) Where the international application contains the designation of a Contracting Party that has made a notification under subparagraph (a), it shall also contain, in the prescribed manner, any element that was the subject of that notification.
(3) [Other Possible Contents of the International Application] The international application may contain or be accompanied by such other elements as are specified in the Regulations.
(4) [Several Industrial Designs in the Same International Application] Subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, an international application may include two or more industrial designs.
(5) [Request for Deferred Publication] The international application may contain a request for deferment of publication.
(1) [Claiming of Priority]
(a) The international application may contain a declaration claiming, under Article 4 of the Paris Convention, the priority of one or more earlier applications filed in or for any country party to that Convention or any Member of the World Trade Organization.
(b) The Regulations may provide that the declaration referred to in subparagraph (a) may be made after the filing of the international application. In such case, the Regulations shall prescribe the latest time by which such declaration may be made.
(2) [International Application Serving as a Basis for Claiming Priority] The international application shall, as from its filing date and whatever may be its subsequent fate, be equivalent to a regular filing within the meaning of Article 4 of the Paris Convention.
Designation Fees
(1) [Prescribed Designation Fee] The prescribed fees shall include, subject to paragraph (2), a designation fee for each designated Contracting Party.
(2) [Individual Designation Fee] Any Contracting Party whose Office is an Examining Office and any Contracting Party that is an intergovernmental organization may, in a declaration, notify the Director General that, in connection with any international application in which it is designated, and in connection with the renewal of any international registration resulting from such an international application, the prescribed designation fee referred to in paragraph (1) shall be replaced by an individual designation fee, whose amount shall be indicated in the declaration and can be changed in further declarations. The said amount may be fixed by the said Contracting Party for the initial term of protection and for each term of renewal or for the maximum period of protection allowed by the Contracting Party concerned. However, it may not be higher than the equivalent of the amount which the Office of that Contracting Party would be entitled to receive from an applicant for a grant of protection for an equivalent period to the same number of industrial designs, that amount being diminished by the savings resulting from the international procedure.
(3) [Transfer of Designation Fees] The designation fees referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be transferred by the International Bureau to the Contracting Parties in respect of which those fees were paid.
Correction of Irregularities
(1) [Examination of the International Application] If the International Bureau finds that the international application does not, at the time of its receipt by the International Bureau, fulfill the requirements of this Act and the Regulations, it shall invite the applicant to make the required corrections within the prescribed time limit.
(2) [Irregularities Not Corrected]
(a) If the applicant does not comply with the invitation within the prescribed time limit, the international application shall, subject to subparagraph (b), be considered abandoned.
(b) In the case of an irregularity which relates to Article 5(2) or to a special requirement notified to the Director General by a Contracting Party in accordance with the Regulations, if the applicant does not comply with the invitation within the prescribed time limit, the international application shall be deemed not to contain the designation of that Contracting Party.
Filing Date of the International Application
(1) [International Application Filed Directly] Where the international application is filed directly with the International Bureau, the filing date shall, subject to paragraph (3), be the date on which the International Bureau receives the international application.
(2) [International Application Filed Indirectly] Where the international application is filed through the Office of the applicant's Contracting Party, the filing date shall be determined as prescribed.
(3) [International Application with Certain Irregularities] Where the international application has, on the date on which it is received by the International Bureau, an irregularity which is prescribed as an irregularity entailing a postponement of the filing date of the international application, the filing date shall be the date on which the correction of such irregularity is received by the International Bureau.
International Registration, Date of the International Registration, Publication and Confidential Copies of the International Registration
(1) [International Registration] The International Bureau shall register each industrial design that is the subject of an international application immediately upon receipt by it of the international application or, where corrections are invited under Article 8, immediately upon receipt of the required corrections. The registration shall be effected whether or not publication is deferred under Article 11.
(2) [Date of the International Registration]
(a) Subject to subparagraph (b), the date of the international registration shall be the filing date of the international application.
(b) Where the international application has, on the date on which it is received by the International Bureau, an irregularity which relates to Article 5(2) , the date of the international registration shall be the date on which the correction of such irregularity is received by the International Bureau or the filing date of the international application, whichever is the later.
(3) [Publication]
(a) The international registration shall be published by the International Bureau. Such publication shall be deemed in all Contracting Parties to be sufficient publicity, and no other publicity may be required of the holder.
(b) The International Bureau shall send a copy of the publication of the international registration to each designated Office.
(4) [Maintenance of Confidentiality Before Publication] Subject to paragraph (5) and Article 11(4)(b), the International Bureau shall keep in confidence each international application and each international registration until publication.
(5) [Confidential Copies]
(a) The International Bureau shall, immediately after registration has been effected, send a copy of the international registration, along with any relevant statement, document or specimen accompanying the international application, to each Office that has notified the International Bureau that it wishes to receive such a copy and has been designated in the international application.
(b) The Office shall, until publication of the international registration by the International Bureau, keep in confidence each international registration of which a copy has been sent to it by the International Bureau and may use the said copy only for the purpose of the examination of the international registration and of applications for the protection of industrial designs filed in or for the Contracting Party for which the Office is competent. In particular, it may not divulge the contents of any such international registration to any person outside the Office other than the holder of that international registration, except for the purposes of an administrative or legal proceeding involving a conflict over entitlement to file the international application on which the international registration is based. In the case of such an administrative or legal proceeding, the contents of the international registration may only be disclosed in confidence to the parties involved in the proceeding who shall be bound to respect the confidentiality of the disclosure.
Deferment of Publication
(1) [Provisions of Laws of Contracting Parties Concerning Deferment of Publication]
(a) Where the law of a Contracting Party provides for the deferment of the publication of an industrial design for a period which is less than the prescribed period, that Contracting Party shall, in a declaration, notify the Director General of the allowable period of deferment.
(b) Where the law of a Contracting Party does not provide for the deferment of the publication of an industrial design, the Contracting Party shall, in a declaration, notify the Director General of that fact.
(2) [Deferment of Publication] Where the international application contains a request for deferment of publication, the publication shall take place,
(i) where none of the Contracting Parties designated in the international application has made a declaration under paragraph (1), at the expiry of the prescribed period or,
(ii) where any of the Contracting Parties designated in the international application has made a declaration under paragraph (1)(a), at the expiry of the period notified in such declaration or, where there is more than one such designated Contracting Party, at the expiry of the shortest period notified in their declarations.
(3) [Treatment of Requests for Deferment Where Deferment Is Not Possible Under Applicable Law] Where deferment of publication has been requested and any of the Contracting Parties designated in the international application has made a declaration under paragraph (1)(b) that deferment of publication is not possible under its law,
(i) subject to item (ii), the International Bureau shall notify the applicant accordingly; if, within the prescribed period, the applicant does not, by notice in writing to the International Bureau, withdraw the designation of the said Contracting Party, the International Bureau shall disregard the request for deferment of publication;
(ii) where, instead of containing reproductions of the industrial design, the international application was accompanied by specimens of the industrial design, the International Bureau shall disregard the designation of the said Contracting Party and shall notify the applicant accordingly.
(4) [Request for Earlier Publication or for Special Access to the International Registration]
(a) At any time during the period of deferment applicable under paragraph (2), the holder may request publication of any or all of the industrial designs that are the subject of the international registration, in which case the period of deferment in respect of such industrial design or designs shall be considered to have expired on the date of receipt of such request by the International Bureau.
(b) The holder may also, at any time during the period of deferment applicable under paragraph (2), request the International Bureau to provide a third party specified by the holder with an extract from, or to allow such a party access to, any or all of the industrial designs that are the subject of the international registration.
(5) [Renunciation and Limitation]
(a) If, at any time during the period of deferment applicable under paragraph (2), the holder renounces the international registration in respect of all the designated Contracting Parties, the industrial design or designs that are the subject of the international registration shall not be published.
(b) If, at any time during the period of deferment applicable under paragraph (2), the holder limits the international registration, in respect of all of the designated Contracting Parties, to one or some of the industrial designs that are the subject of the international registration, the other industrial design or designs that are the subject of the international registration shall not be published.
(6) [Publication and Furnishing of Reproductions]
(a) At the expiration of any period of deferment applicable under the provisions of this Article, the International Bureau shall, subject to the payment of the prescribed fees, publish the international registration. If such fees are not paid as prescribed, the international registration shall be canceled and publication shall not take place.
(b) Where the international application was accompanied by one or more specimens of the industrial design in accordance with Article 5(1)(iii), the holder shall submit the prescribed number of copies of a reproduction of each industrial design that is the subject of that application to the International Bureau within the prescribed time limit. To the extent that the holder does not do so, the international registration shall be canceled and publication shall not take place.
(1) [Right to Refuse] The Office of any designated Contracting Party may, where the conditions for the grant of protection under the law of that Contracting Party are not met in respect of any or all of the industrial designs that are the subject of an international registration, refuse the effects, in part or in whole, of the international registration in the territory of the said Contracting Party, provided that no Office may refuse the effects, in part or in whole, of any international registration on the ground that requirements relating to the form or contents of the international application that are provided for in this Act or the Regulations or are additional to, or different from, those requirements have not been satisfied under the law of the Contracting Party concerned.
(2) [Notification of Refusal]
(a) The refusal of the effects of an international registration shall be communicated by the Office to the International Bureau in a notification of refusal within the prescribed period.
(b) Any notification of refusal shall state all the grounds on which the refusal is based.
(3) [Transmission of Notification of Refusal; Remedies]
(a) The International Bureau shall, without delay, transmit a copy of the notification of refusal to the holder.
(b) The holder shall enjoy the same remedies as if any industrial design that is the subject of the international registration had been the subject of an application for the grant of protection under the law applicable to the Office that communicated the refusal. Such remedies shall at least consist of the possibility of a re-examination or a review of the refusal or an appeal against the refusal.
(4) [Withdrawal of Refusal] Any refusal may be withdrawn, in part or in whole, at any time by the Office that communicated it.
Special Requirements Concerning Unity of Design
(1) [Notification of Special Requirements] Any Contracting Party whose law, at the time it becomes party to this Act, requires that designs that are the subject of the same application conform to a requirement of unity of design, unity of production or unity of use, or belong to the same set or composition of items, or that only one independent and distinct design may be claimed in a single application, may, in a declaration, notify the Director General accordingly. However, no such declaration shall affect the right of an applicant to include two or more industrial designs in an international application in accordance with Article 5(4), even if the application designates the Contracting Party that has made the declaration.
(2) [Effect of Declaration] Any such declaration shall enable the Office of the Contracting Party that has made it to refuse the effects of the international registration pursuant to Article 12(1) pending compliance with the requirement notified by that Contracting Party.
(3) [Further Fees Payable on Division of Registration] Where, following a notification of refusal in accordance with paragraph (2), an international registration is divided before the Office concerned in order to overcome a ground of refusal stated in the notification, that Office shall be entitled to charge a fee in respect of each additional international application that would have been necessary in order to avoid that ground of refusal.
Effects of the International Registration
(1) [Effect as Application Under Applicable Law] The international registration shall, from the date of the international registration, have at least the same effect in each designated Contracting Party as a regularly-filed application for the grant of protection of the industrial design under the law of that Contracting Party.
(2) [Effect as Grant of Protection Under Applicable Law]
(a) In each designated Contracting Party the Office of which has not communicated a refusal in accordance with Article 12, the international registration shall have the same effect as a grant of protection for the industrial design under the law of that Contracting Party at the latest from the date of expiration of the period allowed for it to communicate a refusal or, where a Contracting Party has made a corresponding declaration under the Regulations, at the latest at the time specified in that declaration.
(b) Where the Office of a designated Contracting Party has communicated a refusal and has subsequently withdrawn, in part or in whole, that refusal, the international registration shall, to the extent that the refusal is withdrawn, have the same effect in that Contracting Party as a grant of protection for the industrial design under the law of the said Contracting Party at the latest from the date on which the refusal was withdrawn.
(c) The effect given to the international registration under this paragraph shall apply to the industrial design or designs that are the subject of that registration as received from the International Bureau by the designated Office or, where applicable, as amended in the procedure before that Office.
(3) [Declaration Concerning Effect of Designation of Applicant's Contracting Party]
(a) Any Contracting Party whose Office is an Examining Office may, in a declaration, notify the Director General that, where it is the applicant's Contracting Party, the designation of that Contracting Party in an international registration shall have no effect.
(b) Where a Contracting Party having made the declaration referred to in subparagraph (a) is indicated in an international application both as the applicant's Contracting Party and as a designated Contracting Party, the International Bureau shall disregard the designation of that Contracting Party.
Invalidation
(1) [Requirement of Opportunity of Defense] Invalidation, by the competent authorities of a designated Contracting Party, of the effects, in part or in whole, in the territory of that Contracting Party, of the international registration may not be pronounced without the holder having, in good time, been afforded the opportunity of defending his rights.
(2) [Notification of Invalidation] The Office of the Contracting Party in whose territory the effects of the international registration have been invalidated shall, where it is aware of the invalidation, notify it to the International Bureau.
Recording of Changes and Other Matters Concerning International Registrations
(1) [Recording of Changes and Other Matters] The International Bureau shall, as prescribed, record in the International Register
(i) any change in ownership of the international registration, in respect of any or all of the designated Contracting Parties and in respect of any or all of the industrial designs that are the subject of the international registration, provided that the new owner is entitled to file an international application under Article 3,
(ii) any change in the name or address of the holder,
(iii) the appointment of a representative of the applicant or holder and any other relevant fact concerning such representative,
(iv) any renunciation, by the holder, of the international registration, in respect of any or all of the designated Contracting Parties,
(v) any limitation, by the holder, of the international registration, in respect of any or all of the designated Contracting Parties, to one or some of the industrial designs that are the subject of the international registration,
(vi) any invalidation, by the competent authorities of a designated Contracting Party, of the effects, in the territory of that Contracting Party, of the international registration in respect of any or all of the industrial designs that are the subject of the international registration,
(vii) any other relevant fact, identified in the Regulations, concerning the rights in any or all of the industrial designs that are the subject of the international registration.
(2) [Effect of Recording in International Register] Any recording referred to in items (i), (ii), (iv), (v), (vi) and (vii) of paragraph (1) shall have the same effect as if it had been made in the Register of the Office of each of the Contracting Parties concerned, except that a Contracting Party may, in a declaration, notify the Director General that a recording referred to in item (i) of paragraph (1) shall not have that effect in that Contracting Party until the Office of that Contracting Party has received the statements or documents specified in that declaration.
(3) [Fees] Any recording made under paragraph (1) may be subject to the payment of a fee.
(4) [Publication] The International Bureau shall publish a notice concerning any recording made under paragraph (1). It shall send a copy of the publication of the notice to the Office of each of the Contracting Parties concerned.
Initial Term and Renewal of the International Registration and Duration of Protection
(1) [Initial Term of the International Registration] The international registration shall be effected for an initial term of five years counted from the date of the international registration.
(2) [Renewal of the International Registration] The international registration may be renewed for additional terms of five years, in accordance with the prescribed procedure and subject to the payment of the prescribed fees.
(3) [Duration of Protection in Designated Contracting Parties]
(a) Provided that the international registration is renewed, and subject to subparagraph (b), the duration of protection shall, in each of the designated Contracting Parties, be 15 years counted from the date of the international registration.
(b) Where the law of a designated Contracting Party provides for a duration of protection of more than 15 years for an industrial design for which protection has been granted under that law, the duration of protection shall, provided that the international registration is renewed, be the same as that provided for by the law of that Contracting Party.
(c) Each Contracting Party shall, in a declaration, notify the Director General of the maximum duration of protection provided for by its law.
(4) [Possibility of Limited Renewal] The renewal of the international registration may be effected for any or all of the designated Contracting Parties and for any or all of the industrial designs that are the subject of the international registration.
(5) [Recording and Publication of Renewal] The International Bureau shall record renewals in the International Register and publish a notice to that effect. It shall send a copy of the publication of the notice to the Office of each of the Contracting Parties concerned.
Information Concerning Published International Registrations
(1) [Access to Information] The International Bureau shall supply to any person applying therefor, upon the payment of the prescribed fee, extracts from the International Register, or information concerning the contents of the International Register, in respect of any published international registration.
(2) [Exemption from Legalization] Extracts from the International Register supplied by the International Bureau shall be exempt from any requirement of legalization in each Contracting Party.
ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
Common Office of Several States
(1) [Notification of Common Office] If several States intending to become party to this Act have effected, or if several States party to this Act agree to effect, the unification of their domestic legislation on industrial designs, they may notify the Director General
(i) that a common Office shall be substituted for the national Office of each of them, and
(ii) that the whole of their respective territories to which the unified legislation applies shall be deemed to be a single Contracting Party for the purposes of the application of Articles 1, 3 to 18 and 31 of this Act.
(2) [Time at Which Notification Is to Be Made] The notification referred to in paragraph (1) shall be made,
(i) in the case of States intending to become party to this Act, at the time of the deposit of the instruments referred to in Article 27(2);
(ii) in the case of States party to this Act, at any time after the unification of their domestic legislation has been effected.
(3) [Date of Entry into Effect of the Notification] The notification referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall take effect,
(i) in the case of States intending to become party to this Act, at the time such States become bound by this Act;
(ii) in the case of States party to this Act, three months after the date of the communication thereof by the Director General to the other Contracting Parties or at any later date indicated in the notification.
Membership of the Hague Union
The Contracting Parties shall be members of the same Union as the States party to the 1934 Act or the 1960 Act.
(1) [Composition]
(a) The Contracting Parties shall be members of the same Assembly as the States bound by Article 2 of the Complementary Act of 1967.
(b) Each member of the Assembly shall be represented in the Assembly by one delegate, who may be assisted by alternate delegates, advisors and experts, and each delegate may represent only one Contracting Party.
(c) Members of the Union that are not members of the Assembly shall be admitted to the meetings of the Assembly as observers.
(2) [Tasks]
(a) The Assembly shall
(i) deal with all matters concerning the maintenance and development of the Union and the implementation of this Act;
(ii) exercise such rights and perform such tasks as are specifically conferred upon it or assigned to it under this Act or the Complementary Act of 1967;
(iii) give directions to the Director General concerning the preparations for conferences of revision and decide the convocation of any such conference;
(iv) amend the Regulations;
(v) review and approve the reports and activities of the Director General concerning the Union, and give the Director General all necessary instructions concerning matters within the competence of the Union;
(vi) determine the program and adopt the biennial budget of the Union, and approve its final accounts;
(vii) adopt the financial regulations of the Union;
(viii) establish such committees and working groups as it deems appropriate to achieve the objectives of the Union;
(ix) subject to paragraph (1)(c), determine which States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations shall be admitted to its meetings as observers;
(x) take any other appropriate action to further the objectives of the Union and perform any other functions as are appropriate under this Act.
(b) With respect to matters which are also of interest to other Unions administered by the Organization, the Assembly shall make its decisions after having heard the advice of the Coordination Committee of the Organization.
(3) [Quorum]
(a) One-half of the members of the Assembly which are States and have the right to vote on a given matter shall constitute a quorum for the purposes of the vote on that matter.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (a), if, in any session, the number of the members of the Assembly which are States, have the right to vote on a given matter and are represented is less than one-half but equal to or more than one-third of the members of the Assembly which are States and have the right to vote on that matter, the Assembly may make decisions but, with the exception of decisions concerning its own procedure, all such decisions shall take effect only if the conditions set forth hereinafter are fulfilled. The International Bureau shall communicate the said decisions to the members of the Assembly which are States, have the right to vote on the said matter and were not represented and shall invite them to express in writing their vote or abstention within a period of three months from the date of the communication. If, at the expiration of this period, the number of such members having thus expressed their vote or abstention attains the number of the members which was lacking for attaining the quorum in the session itself, such decisions shall take effect provided that at the same time the required majority still obtains.
(4) [Taking Decisions in the Assembly]
(a) The Assembly shall endeavor to take its decisions by consensus.
(b) Where a decision cannot be arrived at by consensus, the matter at issue shall be decided by voting. In such a case,
(i) each Contracting Party that is a State shall have one vote and shall vote only in its own name, and
(ii) any Contracting Party that is an intergovernmental organization may vote, in place of its Member States, with a number of votes equal to the number of its Member States which are party to this Act, and no such intergovernmental organization shall participate in the vote if any one of its Member States exercises its right to vote, and vice versa.
(c) On matters concerning only States that are bound by Article 2 of the Complementary Act of 1967, Contracting Parties that are not bound by the said Article shall not have the right to vote, whereas, on matters concerning only Contracting Parties, only the latter shall have the right to vote.
(5) [Majorities]
(a) Subject to Articles 24(2) and 26(2), the decisions of the Assembly shall require two-thirds of the votes cast.
(b) Abstentions shall not be considered as votes.
(6) [Sessions]
(a) The Assembly shall meet once in every second calendar year in ordinary session upon convocation by the Director General and, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, during the same period and at the same place as the General Assembly of the Organization.
(b) The Assembly shall meet in extraordinary session upon convocation by the Director General, either at the request of one-fourth of the members of the Assembly or on the Director General's own initiative.
(c) The agenda of each session shall be prepared by the Director General.
(7) [Rules of Procedure] The Assembly shall adopt its own rules of procedure.
(1) [Administrative Tasks]
(a) International registration and related duties, as well as all other administrative tasks concerning the Union, shall be performed by the International Bureau.
(b) In particular, the International Bureau shall prepare the meetings and provide the secretariat of the Assembly and of such committees of experts and working groups as may be established by the Assembly.
(2) [Director General] The Director General shall be the chief executive of the Union and shall represent the Union.
(3) [Meetings Other than Sessions of the Assembly] The Director General shall convene any committee and working group established by the Assembly and all other meetings dealing with matters of concern to the Union.
(4) [Role of the International Bureau in the Assembly and Other Meetings]
(a) The Director General and persons designated by the Director General shall participate, without the right to vote, in all meetings of the Assembly, the committees and working groups established by the Assembly, and any other meetings convened by the Director General under the aegis of the Union.
(b) The Director General or a staff member designated by the Director General shall be ex officio secretary of the Assembly, and of the committees, working groups and other meetings referred to in subparagraph (a).
(5) [Conferences]
(a) The International Bureau shall, in accordance with the directions of the Assembly, make the preparations for any revision conferences.
(b) The International Bureau may consult with intergovernmental organizations and international and national non-governmental organizations concerning the said preparations.
(c) The Director General and persons designated by the Director General shall take part, without the right to vote, in the discussions at revision conferences.
(6) [Other Tasks] The International Bureau shall carry out any other tasks assigned to it in relation to this Act.
(1) [Budget]
(a) The Union shall have a budget.
(b) The budget of the Union shall include the income and expenses proper to the Union and its contribution to the budget of expenses common to the Unions administered by the Organization.
(c) Expenses not attributable exclusively to the Union but also to one or more other Unions administered by the Organization shall be considered to be expenses common to the Unions. The share of the Union in such common expenses shall be in proportion to the interest the Union has in them.
(2) [Coordination with Budgets of Other Unions] The budget of the Union shall be established with due regard to the requirements of coordination with the budgets of the other Unions administered by the Organization.
(3) [Sources of Financing of the Budget] The budget of the Union shall be financed from the following sources:
(i) fees relating to international registrations;
(ii) charges due for other services rendered by the International Bureau in relation to the Union;
(iii) sale of, or royalties on, the publications of the International Bureau concerning the Union;
(iv) gifts, bequests and subventions;
(v) rents, interests and other miscellaneous income.
(4) [Fixing of Fees and Charges; Level of the Budget]
(a) The amounts of the fees referred to in paragraph (3)(i) shall be fixed by the Assembly on the proposal of the Director General. Charges referred to in paragraph 3(ii) shall be established by the Director General and shall be provisionally applied subject to approval by the Assembly at its next session.
(b) The amounts of the fees referred to in paragraph (3)(i) shall be so fixed that the revenues of the Union from fees and other sources shall be at least sufficient to cover all the expenses of the International Bureau concerning the Union.
(c) If the budget is not adopted before the beginning of a new financial period, it shall be at the same level as the budget of the previous year, as provided in the financial regulations.
(5) [Working Capital Fund] The Union shall have a working capital fund which shall be constituted by the excess receipts and, if such excess does not suffice, by a single payment made by each member of the Union. If the fund becomes insufficient, the Assembly shall decide to increase it. The proportion and the terms of payment shall be fixed by the Assembly on the proposal of the Director General.
(6) [Advances by Host State]
(a) In the headquarters agreement concluded with the State on the territory of which the Organization has its headquarters, it shall be provided that, whenever the working capital fund is insufficient, such State shall grant advances. The amount of those advances and the conditions on which they are granted shall be the subject of separate agreements, in each case, between such State and the Organization.
(b) The State referred to in subparagraph (a) and the Organization shall each have the right to denounce the obligation to grant advances, by written notification. Denunciation shall take effect three years after the end of the year in which it has been notified.
(7) [Auditing of Accounts] The auditing of the accounts shall be effected by one or more of the States members of the Union or by external auditors, as provided in the financial regulations. They shall be designated, with their agreement, by the Assembly.
(1) [Subject Matter] The Regulations shall govern the details of the implementation of this Act. They shall, in particular, include provisions concerning
(i) matters which this Act expressly provides are to be prescribed;
(ii) further details concerning, or any details useful in the implementation of, the provisions of this Act;
(iii) any administrative requirements, matters or procedures.
(2) [Amendment of Certain Provisions of the Regulations]
(a) The Regulations may specify that certain provisions of the Regulations may be amended only by unanimity or only by a four-fifths majority.
(b) In order for the requirement of unanimity or a four-fifths majority no longer to apply in the future to the amendment of a provision of the Regulations, unanimity shall be required.
(c) In order for the requirement of unanimity or a four-fifths majority to apply in the future to the amendment of a provision of the Regulations, a four-fifths majority shall be required.
(3) [Conflict Between This Act and the Regulations] In the case of conflict between the provisions of this Act and those of the Regulations, the former shall prevail.
REVISION AND AMENDMENT
Revision of This Act
(1) [Revision Conferences] This Act may be revised by a conference of the Contracting Parties.
(2) [Revision or Amendment of Certain Articles] Articles 21, 22, 23 and 26 may be amended either by a revision conference or by the Assembly according to the provisions of Article 26.
Amendment of Certain Articles by the Assembly
(1) [Proposals for Amendment]
(a) Proposals for the amendment by the Assembly of Articles 21, 22, 23 and this Article may be initiated by any Contracting Party or by the Director General.
(b) Such proposals shall be communicated by the Director General to the Contracting Parties at least six months in advance of their consideration by the Assembly.
(2) [Majorities] Adoption of any amendment to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall require a three-fourths majority, except that adoption of any amendment to Article 21 or to the present paragraph shall require a four-fifths majority.
(3) [Entry into Force]
(a) Except where subparagraph (b) applies, any amendment to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall enter into force one month after written notifications of acceptance, effected in accordance with their respective constitutional processes, have been received by the Director General from three-fourths of those Contracting Parties which, at the time the amendment was adopted, were members of the Assembly and had the right to vote on that amendment.
(b) Any amendment to Article 21(3) or (4) or to this subparagraph shall not enter into force if, within six months of its adoption by the Assembly, any Contracting Party notifies the Director General that it does not accept such amendment.
(c) Any amendment which enters into force in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph shall bind all the States and intergovernmental organizations which are Contracting Parties at the time the amendment enters into force, or which become Contracting Parties at a subsequent date.
FINAL PROVISIONS
Becoming Party to This Act
(1) [Eligibility] Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and Article 28,
(i) any State member of the Organization may sign and become party to this Act;
(ii) any intergovernmental organization which maintains an Office in which protection of industrial designs may be obtained with effect in the territory in which the constituting treaty of the intergovernmental organization applies may sign and become party to this Act, provided that at least one of the member States of the intergovernmental organization is a member of the Organization and provided that such Office is not the subject of a notification under Article 19.
(2) [Ratification or Accession] Any State or intergovernmental organization referred to in paragraph (1) may deposit
(i) an instrument of ratification if it has signed this Act, or
(ii) an instrument of accession if it has not signed this Act.
(3) [Effective Date of Deposit]
(a) Subject to subparagraphs (b) to (d), the effective date of the deposit of an instrument of ratification or accession shall be the date on which that instrument is deposited.
(b) The effective date of the deposit of the instrument of ratification or accession of any State in respect of which protection of industrial designs may be obtained only through the Office maintained by an intergovernmental organization of which that State is a member shall be the date on which the instrument of that intergovernmental organization is deposited if that date is later than the date on which the instrument of the said State has been deposited.
(c) The effective date of the deposit of any instrument of ratification or accession containing or accompanied by the notification referred to in Article 19 shall be the date on which the last of the instruments of the States members of the group of States having made the said notification is deposited.
(d) Any instrument of ratification or accession of a State may contain or be accompanied by a declaration making it a condition to its being considered as deposited that the instrument of one other State or one intergovernmental organization, or the instruments of two other States, or the instruments of one other State and one intergovernmental organization, specified by name and eligible to become party to this Act, is or are also deposited. The instrument containing or accompanied by such a declaration shall be considered to have been deposited on the day on which the condition indicated in the declaration is fulfilled. However, when an instrument specified in the declaration itself contains, or is itself accompanied by, a declaration of the said kind, that instrument shall be considered as deposited on the day on which the condition specified in the latter declaration is fulfilled.
(e) Any declaration made under paragraph (d) may be withdrawn, in its entirety or in part, at any time. Any such withdrawal shall become effective on the date on which the notification of withdrawal is received by the Director General.
Effective Date of Ratifications and Accessions
(1) [Instruments to Be Taken into Consideration] For the purposes of this Article, only instruments of ratification or accession that are deposited by States or intergovernmental organizations referred to in Article 27(1) and that have an effective date according to Article 27(3) shall be taken into consideration.
(2) [Entry into Force of This Act] This Act shall enter into force three months after six States have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession, provided that, according to the most recent annual statistics collected by the International Bureau, at least three of those States fulfill at least one of the following conditions:
(i) at least 3,000 applications for the protection of industrial designs have been filed in or for the State concerned, or
(ii) at least 1,000 applications for the protection of industrial designs have been filed in or for the State concerned by residents of States other than that State.
(3) [Entry into Force of Ratifications and Accessions]
(a) Any State or intergovernmental organization that has deposited its instrument of ratification or accession three months or more before the date of entry into force of this Act shall become bound by this Act on the date of entry into force of this Act.
(b) Any other State or intergovernmental organization shall become bound by this Act three months after the date on which it has deposited its instrument of ratification or accession or at any later date indicated in that instrument.
Prohibition of Reservations
No reservations to this Act are permitted.
Declarations Made by Contracting Parties
(1) [Time at Which Declarations May Be Made] Any declaration under Articles 4(1)(b), 5(2)(a), 7(2), 11(1), 13(1), 14(3), 16(2) or 17(3)(c) may be made
(i) at the time of the deposit of an instrument referred to in Article 27(2), in which case it shall become effective on the date on which the State or intergovernmental organization having made the declaration becomes bound by this Act, or
(ii) after the deposit of an instrument referred to in Article 27(2), in which case it shall become effective three months after the date of its receipt by the Director General or at any later date indicated in the declaration but shall apply only in respect of any international registration whose date of international registration is the same as, or is later than, the effective date of the declaration.
(2) [Declarations by States Having a Common Office] Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any declaration referred to in that paragraph that has been made by a State which has, with another State or other States, notified the Director General under Article 19(1) of the substitution of a common Office for their national Offices shall become effective only if that other State or those other States makes or make a corresponding declaration or corresponding declarations.
(3) [Withdrawal of Declarations] Any declaration referred to in paragraph (1) may be withdrawn at any time by notification addressed to the Director General. Such withdrawal shall take effect three months after the date on which the Director General has received the notification or at any later date indicated in the notification. In the case of a declaration made under Article 7(2), the withdrawal shall not affect international applications filed prior to the coming into effect of the said withdrawal.
Applicability of the 1934 and 1960 Acts
(1) [Relations Between States Party to Both This Act and the 1934 or 1960 Acts] This Act alone shall be applicable as regards the mutual relations of States party to both this Act and the 1934 Act or the 1960 Act. However, such States shall, in their mutual relations, apply the 1934 Act or the 1960 Act, as the case may be, to industrial designs deposited at the International Bureau prior to the date on which this Act becomes applicable as regards their mutual relations.
(2) [Relations Between States Party to Both This Act and the 1934 or 1960 Acts and States Party to the 1934 or 1960 Acts Without Being Party to This Act]
(a) Any State that is party to both this Act and the 1934 Act shall continue to apply the 1934 Act in its relations with States that are party to the 1934 Act without being party to the 1960 Act or this Act.
(b) Any State that is party to both this Act and the 1960 Act shall continue to apply the 1960 Act in its relations with States that are party to the 1960 Act without being party to this Act.
Denunciation of This Act
(1) [Notification] Any Contracting Party may denounce this Act by notification addressed to the Director General.
(2) [Effective Date] Denunciation shall take effect one year after the date on which the Director General has received the notification or at any later date indicated in the notification. It shall not affect the application of this Act to any international application pending and any international registration in force in respect of the denouncing Contracting Party at the time of the coming into effect of the denunciation.
Languages of This Act; Signature
(1) [Original Texts; Official Texts]
(a) This Act shall be signed in a single original in the English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish languages, all texts being equally authentic.
(b) Official texts shall be established by the Director General, after consultation with the interested Governments, in such other languages as the Assembly may designate.
(2) [Time Limit for Signature] This Act shall remain open for signature at the headquarters of the Organization for one year after its adoption.
The Director General shall be the depositary of this Act.
Effective date for the Kyrgyz Republic
Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT))
Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
NICE AGREEMENT Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks
Vienna agreement establishing an international classification of the figurative elements of marks
Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs
Berne Convention
Strasbourg agreement concerning the international patent classification
International Convention For The Protection Of New Varieties Of Plants
WIPO copyright treaty
Convention for the protection of producers of phonograms against unauthorized duplication of their phonograms
Treaty on the law on trademarks (TLT)
Geneva convention for the protection of producers of phonograms against unauthorized duplication of their phonograms
Hague agreement concerning the international deposit of industrial designs
Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure
International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations
Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
Nairobi Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol
Patent Law Treaty
Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks
Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit
of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure
Done at Budapest on April 28, 1977, and amended on September 26, 1980
TABLE OF CONTENTS1
Article 1: Establishment of a Union
Article 2: Definitions
CHAPTER I: Substantive Provisions
Article 3: Recognition and Effect of the Deposit of Microorganisms
Article 4: New Deposit
Article 5: Export and Import Restrictions
Article 6: Status of International Depositary Authority
Article 7: Acquisition of the Status of International Depositary Authority
Article 8: Termination and Limitation of the Status of International Depositary Authority
Article 9: Intergovernmental Industrial Property Organizations
CHAPTER II: Administrative Provisions
Article 10: Assembly
Article 11: International Bureau
Article 12: Regulations
CHAPTER III: Revision and Amendment
Article 13: Revision of the Treaty
Article 14: Amendment of Certain Provisions of the Treaty
CHAPTER IV: Final Provisions
Article 15: Becoming Party to the Treaty
Article 16: Entry Into Force of the Treaty
Article 17: Denunciation of the Treaty
Article 18: Signature and Languages of the Treaty
Article 19: Deposit of the Treaty; Transmittal of Copies; Registration of the Treaty
Article 20: Notifications
Establishment of a Union
The States party to this Treaty (hereinafter called "the Contracting States") constitute a Union for the international recognition of the deposit of microorganisms for the purposes of patent procedure.
For the purposes of this Treaty and the Regulations:
(i) references to a "patent" shall be construed as references to patents for inventions, inventors' certificates, utility certificates, utility models, patents or certificates of addition, inventors' certificates of addition, and utility certificates of addition;
(ii) "deposit of a microorganism" means, according to the context in which these words appear, the following acts effected in accordance with this Treaty and the Regulations; the transmittal of a microorganism to an international depositary authority, which receives and accepts it, or the storage of such a microorganism by the international depositary authority, or both the said transmittal and the said storage;
(iii) "patent procedure" means any administrative or judicial procedure relating to a patent application or a patent;
(iv) "publication for the purposes of patent procedure" means the official publication, or the official laying open for public inspection, of a patent application or a patent;
(v) "intergovernmental industrial property organization" means an organization that has filed a declaration under Article 9(1);
(vi) "industrial property office" means an authority of a Contracting State or an intergovernmental industrial property organization competent for the grant of patents;
(vii) "depositary institution" means an institution which provides for the receipt, acceptance and storage of microorganisms and the furnishing of samples thereof;
(viii) "international depositary authority" means a depositary institution which has acquired the status of international depositary authority as provided in Article 7;
(ix) "depositor" means the natural person or legal entity transmitting a microorganism to an international depositary authority, which receives and accepts it, and any successor in title of the said natural person or legal entity;
(x) "Union" means the Union referred to in Article 1;
(xi) "Assembly" means the Assembly referred to in Article 10;
(xii) "Organization" means the World Intellectual Property Organization;
(xiii) "International Bureau" means the International Bureau of the Organization and, as long as it subsists, the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI);
(xiv) "Director General" means the Director General of the Organization;
(xv) "Regulations" means the Regulations referred to in Article 12.
Substantive Provisions
Recognition and Effect of the Deposit of Microorganisms
(a) Contracting States which allow or require the deposit of microorganisms for the purposes of patent procedure shall recognize, for such purposes, the deposit of a microorganism with any international depositary authority. Such recognition shall include the recognition of the fact and date of the deposit as indicated by the international depositary authority as well as the recognition of the fact that what is furnished as a sample is a sample of the deposited microorganism.
(b) Any Contracting State may require a copy of the receipt of the deposit referred to in subparagraph (a), issued by the international depositary authority.
(2) As far as matters regulated in this Treaty and the Regulations are concerned, no Contracting State may require compliance with requirements different from or additional to those which are provided in this Treaty and the Regulations.
New Deposit
(a) Where the international depositary authority cannot furnish samples of the deposited microorganism for any reason, in particular,
(i) where such microorganism is no longer viable, or
(ii) where the furnishing of samples would require that they be sent abroad and the sending or the receipt of the samples abroad is prevented by export or import restrictions,
that authority shall, promptly after having noted its inability to furnish samples, notify the depositor of such inability, indicating the cause thereof, and the depositor, subject to paragraph (2) and as provided in this paragraph, shall have the right to make a new deposit of the microorganism which was originally deposited.
(b) The new deposit shall be made with the international depositary authority with which the original deposit was made, provided that:
(i) it shall be made with another international depositary authority where the institution with which the original deposit was made has ceased to have the status of international depositary authority, either entirely or in respect of the kind of microorganism to which the deposited microorganism belongs, or where the international depositary authority with which the original deposit was made discontinues, temporarily or definitively, the performance of its functions in respect of deposited microorganisms;
(ii) it may be made with another international depositary authority in the case referred to in subparagraph (a)(ii).
(c) Any new deposit shall be accompanied by a statement signed by the depositor alleging that the newly deposited microorganism is the same as that originally deposited. If the allegation of the depositor is contested, the burden of proof shall be governed by the applicable law.
(d) Subject to subparagraphs (a) to (c) and (e), the new deposit shall be treated as if it had been made on the date on which the original deposit was made where all the preceding statements concerning the viability of the originally deposited microorganism indicated that the microorganism was viable and where the new deposit was made within three months after the date on which the depositor received the notification referred to in subparagraph (a).
(e) Where subparagraph (b)(i) applies and the depositor does not receive the notification referred to in subparagraph (a) within six months after the date on which the termination, limitation or discontinuance referred to in subparagraph (b)(i) was published by the International Bureau, the three–month time limit referred to in subparagraph (d) shall be counted from the date of the said publication.
(2) The right referred to in paragraph (1)(a) shall not exist where the deposited microorganism has been transferred to another international depositary authority as long as that authority is in a position to furnish samples of such microorganism.
Export and Import Restrictions
Each Contracting State recognizes that it is highly desirable that, if and to the extent to which the export from or import into its territory of certain kinds of microorganisms is restricted, such restriction should apply to microorganisms deposited; or destined for deposit, under this Treaty only where the restriction is necessary in view of national security or the dangers for health or the environment.
Status of International Depositary Authority
(1) In order to qualify for the status of international depositary authority, any depositary institution must be located on the territory of a Contracting State and must benefit from assurances furnished by that State to the effect that the said institution complies and will continue to comply with the requirements specified in paragraph (2). The said assurances may be furnished also by an intergovernmental industrial property organization; in that case, the depositary institution must be located on the territory of a State member of the said organization.
(2) The depositary institution must, in its capacity of international depositary authority:
(i) have a continuous existence;
(ii) have the necessary staff and facilities, as prescribed in the Regulations, to perform its scientific and administrative tasks under this Treaty;
(iii) be impartial and objective;
(iv) be available, for the purposes of deposit, to any depositor under the same conditions;
(v) accept for deposit any or certain kinds of microorganisms, examine their viability and store them, as prescribed in the Regulations;
(vi) issue a receipt to the depositor, and any required viability statement, as prescribed in the Regulations;
(vii) comply, in respect of the deposited microorganisms, with the requirement of secrecy, as prescribed in the Regulations;
(viii) furnish samples of any deposited microorganism under the conditions and in conformity with the procedure prescribed in the Regulations.
(3) The Regulations shall provide the measures to be taken:
(i) where an international depositary authority discontinues, temporarily or definitively, the performance of its functions in respect of deposited microorganisms or refuses to accept any of the kinds of microorganisms which it should accept under the assurances furnished;
(ii) in case of the termination or limitation of the status of international depositary authority of an international depositary authority.
Acquisition of the Status of International Depositary Authority
(a) A depositary institution shall acquire the status of international depositary authority by virtue of a written communication addressed to the Director General by the Contracting State on the territory of which the depositary institution is located and including a declaration of assurances to the effect that the said institution complies and will continue to comply with the requirements specified in Article 6(2). The said status may be acquired also by virtue of a written communication addressed to the Director General by an intergovernmental industrial property organization and including the said declaration.
(b) The communication shall also contain information on the depositary institution as provided in the Regulations and may indicate the date on which the status of international depositary authority should take effect.
(a) If the Director General finds that the communication includes the required declaration and that all the required information has been received, the communication shall be promptly published by the International Bureau.
(b) The status of international depositary authority shall be acquired as from the date of publication of the communication or, where a date has been indicated under paragraph (1)(b) and such date is later than the date of publication of the communication, as from such date.
(3) The details of the procedure under paragraphs (1) and (2) are provided in the Regulations.
Termination and Limitation of the Status of International Depositary Authority
(a) Any Contracting State or any intergovernmental industrial property organization may request the Assembly to terminate, or to limit to certain kinds of microorganisms, any authority's status of international depositary authority on the ground that the requirements specified in Article 6 have not been or are no longer complied with. However, such a request may not be made by a Contracting State or intergovernmental industrial property organization in respect of an international depositary authority for which it has made the declaration referred to in Article 7(1)(a).
(b) Before making the request under subparagraph (a), the Contracting State or the intergovernmental industrial property organization shall, through the intermediary of the Director General, notify the reasons for the proposed request to the Contracting State or the intergovernmental industrial property organization which has made the communication referred to in Article 7(1) so that that State or organization may, within six months from the date of the said notification, take appropriate action to obviate the need for making the proposed request.
(c) Where the Assembly finds that the request is well founded, it shall decide to terminate, or to limit to certain kinds of microorganisms, the status of international depositary authority of the authority referred to in subparagraph (a). The decision of the Assembly shall require that a majority of two–thirds of the votes cast be in favor of the request.
(a) The Contracting State or intergovernmental industrial property organization having made the declaration referred to in Article 7(1)(a)may, by a communication addressed to the Director General, withdraw its declaration either entirely or in respect only of certain kinds of microorganisms and in any event shall do so when and to the extent that its assurances are no longer applicable.
(b) Such a communication shall, from the date provided for in the Regulations, entail, where it relates to the entire declaration, the termination of the status of international depositary authority or, where it relates only to certain kinds of microorganisms, a corresponding limitation of such status.
Intergovernmental Industrial Property Organizations
(a) Any intergovernmental organization to which several States have entrusted the task of granting regional patents and of which all the member States are members of the International (Paris) Union for the Protection of Industrial Property may file with the Director General a declaration that it accepts the obligation of recognition provided for in Article 3(1)(a), the obligation concerning the requirements referred to in Article 3(2) and all the effects of the provisions of this Treaty and the Regulations applicable to intergovernmental industrial property organizations. If filed before the entry into force of this Treaty according to Article 16(1), the declaration referred to in the preceding sentence shall become effective on the date of the said entry into force. If filed after such entry into force, the said declaration shall become effective three months after its filing unless a later date has been indicated in the declaration. In the latter case, the declaration shall take effect on the date thus indicated.
(b) The said organization shall have the right provided for in Article 3(1)(b).
(2) Where any provision of this Treaty or of the Regulations affecting intergovernmental industrial property organizations is revised or amended, any intergovernmental industrial property organization may withdraw its declaration referred to in paragraph (1) by notification addressed to the Director General. The withdrawal shall take effect:
(i) where the notification has been received before the date on which the revision or amendment enters into force, on that date;
(ii) where the notification has been received after the date referred to in (i), on the date indicated in the notification or, in the absence of such indication, three months after the date on which the notification was received.
(3) In addition to the case referred to in paragraph (2), any intergovernmental industrial property organization may withdraw its declaration referred to in paragraph (1)(a) by notification addressed to the Director General. The withdrawal shall take effect two years after the date on which the Director General has received the notification. No notification of withdrawal under this paragraph shall be receivable during a period of five years from the date on which the declaration took effect.
(4) The withdrawal referred to in paragraph (2) or (3) by an intergovernmental industrial property organization whose communication underArticle 7(1) has led to the acquisition of the status of international depositary authority by a depositary institution shall entail the termination of such status one year after the date on which the Director General has received the notification of withdrawal.
(5) Any declaration referred to in paragraph (1)(a), notification of withdrawal referred to in paragraph (2) or (3), assurances furnished underArticle 6(1), second sentence, and included in a declaration made in accordance with Article 7(1)(a), request made under Article 8(1) and communication of withdrawal referred to in Article 8(2) shall require the express previous approval of the supreme governing organ of the intergovernmental industrial property organization whose members are all the States members of the said organization and in which decisions are made by the official representatives of the governments of such States.
(a) The Assembly shall consist of the Contracting States.
(b) Each Contracting State shall be represented by one delegate, who may be assisted by alternate delegates, advisors, and experts.
(c) Each intergovernmental industrial property organization shall be represented by special observers in the meetings of the Assembly and any committee and working group established by the Assembly.
(d) Any State not member of the Union which is a member of the Organization or of the International (Paris) Union for the Protection of Industrial Property and any intergovernmental organization specialized in the field of patents other than an intergovernmental industrial property organization as defined in Article 2(v) may be represented by observers in the meetings of the Assembly and, if the Assembly so decides, in the meetings of any committee or working group established by the Assembly.
(a) The Assembly shall:
(i) deal with all matters concerning the maintenance and development of the Union and the implementation of this Treaty;
(ii) exercise such rights and perform such tasks as are specially conferred upon it or assigned to it under this Treaty;
(iii) give directions to the Director General concerning the preparations for revision conferences;
(iv) review and approve the reports and activities of the Director General concerning the Union, and give him all necessary instructions concerning matters within the competence of the Union;
(v) establish such committees and working groups as it deems appropriate to facilitate the work of the Union;
(vi) determine, subject to paragraph (1)(d), which States other than Contracting States, which intergovernmental organizations other than intergovernmental industrial property organizations as defined in Article 2(v) and which international non–governmental organizations shall be admitted to its meetings as observers and to what extent international depositary authorities shall be admitted to its meetings as observers;
(vii) take any other appropriate action designed to further the objectives of the Union;
(viii) perform such other functions as are appropriate under this Treaty.
(b) With respect to matters which are of interest also to other Unions administered by the Organization, the Assembly shall make its decisions after having heard the advice of the Coordination Committee of the Organization.
(3) A delegate may represent, and vote in the name of, one State only.
(4) Each Contracting State shall have one vote.
(a) One–half of the Contracting States shall constitute a quorum.
(b) In the absence of the quorum, the Assembly may make decisions but, with the exception of decisions concerning its own procedure, all such decisions shall take effect only if the quorum and the required majority are attained through voting by correspondence as provided in the Regulations.
(a) Subject to Articles 8(1)(c), 12(4) and 14(2)(b), the decisions of the Assembly shall require a majority of the votes cast.
(a) The Assembly shall meet once in every second calendar year in ordinary session upon convocation by the Director General, preferably during the same period and at the same place as the General Assembly of the Organization.
(b) The Assembly shall meet in extraordinary session upon convocation by the Director General, either on his own initiative or at the request of one–fourth of the Contracting States.
(8) The Assembly shall adopt its own rules of procedure.
(1) The International Bureau shall:
(i) perform the administrative tasks concerning the Union, in particular such tasks as are specifically assigned to it under this Treaty and the Regulations or by the Assembly;
(ii) provide the secretariat of revision conferences, of the Assembly, of committees and working groups established by the Assembly, and of any other meeting convened by the Director General and dealing with matters of concern to the Union.
(2) The Director General shall be the chief executive of the Union and shall represent the Union.
(3) The Director General shall convene all meetings dealing with matters of concern to the Union.
(a) The Director General and any staff member designated by him shall participate, without the right to vote, in all meetings of the Assembly, the committees and working groups established by the Assembly, and any other meeting convened by the Director General and dealing with matters of concern to the Union.
(b) The Director General, or a staff member designated by him, shall be ex officio secretary of the Assembly, and of the committees, working groups and other meetings referred to in subparagraph (a).
(a) The Director General shall, in accordance with the directions of the Assembly, make the preparations for revision conferences.
(b) The Director General may consult with intergovernmental and international non–governmental organizations concerning the preparations for revision conferences.
(c) The Director General and persons designated by him shall take part, without the right to vote, in the discussions at revision conferences.
(d) The Director General, or a staff member designated by him, shall be ex officio secretary of any revision conference.
(1) The Regulations provide rules concerning:
(i) matters in respect of which this Treaty expressly refers to the Regulations or expressly provides that they are or shall be prescribed;
(ii) any administrative requirements, matters or procedures;
(iii) any details useful in the implementation of this Treaty.
(2) The Regulations adopted at the same time as this Treaty are annexed to this Treaty.
(3) The Assembly may amend the Regulations.
(a) Subject to subparagraph (b), adoption of any amendment of the Regulations shall require two–thirds of the votes cast.
(b) Adoption of any amendment concerning the furnishing of samples of deposited microorganisms by the international depositary authorities shall require that no Contracting State vote against the proposed amendment.
(5) In the case of conflict between the provisions of this Treaty and those of the Regulations, the provisions of this Treaty shall prevail.
Revision of the Treaty
(1) This Treaty may be revised from time to time by conferences of the Contracting States.
(2) The convocation of any revision conference shall be decided by the Assembly.
(3) Articles 10 and 11 may be amended either by a revision conference or according to Article 14.
Amendment of Certain Provisions of the Treaty
(a) Proposals under this Article for the amendment of Articles 10 and 11 may be initiated by any Contracting State or by the Director General.
(b) Such proposals shall be communicated by the Director General to the Contracting States at least six months in advance of their consideration by the Assembly.
(a) Amendments to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall be adopted by the Assembly.
(b) Adoption of any amendment to Article 10 shall require four–fifths of the votes cast; adoption of any amendment to Article 11 shall require three–fourths of the votes cast.
(a) Any amendment to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall enter into force one month after written notifications of acceptance, effected in accordance with their respective constitutional processes, have been received by the Director General from three–fourths of the Contracting States members of the Assembly at the time the Assembly adopted the amendment.
(b) Any amendment to the said Articles thus accepted shall bind all the Contracting States which were Contracting States at the time the amendment was adopted by the Assembly, provided that any amendment creating financial obligations for the said Contracting States or increasing such obligations shall bind only those Contracting States which have notified their acceptance of such amendment.
(c) Any amendment which has been accepted and which has entered into force in accordance with subparagraph (a) shall bind all States which become Contracting States after the date on which the amendment was adopted by the Assembly.
Becoming Party to the Treaty
(1) Any State member of the International (Paris) Union for the Protection of Industrial Property may become party to this Treaty by:
(i) signature followed by the deposit of an instrument of ratification, or
(ii) deposit of an instrument of accession.
(2) Instruments of ratification or accession shall be deposited with the Director General.
(1) This Treaty shall enter into force, with respect to the first five States which have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession, three months after the date on which the fifth instrument of ratification or accession has been deposited.
(2) This Treaty shall enter into force with respect to any other State three months after the date on which that State has deposited its instrument of ratification or accession unless a later date has been indicated in the instrument of ratification or accession. In the latter case, this Treaty shall enter into force with respect to that State on the date thus indicated.
(1) Any Contracting State may denounce this Treaty by notification addressed to the Director General.
(2) Denunciation shall take effect two years after the day on which the Director General has received the notification.
(3) The right of denunciation provided for in paragraph (1) shall not be exercised by any Contracting State before the expiration of five years from the date on which it becomes party to this Treaty.
(4) The denunciation of this Treaty by a Contracting State that has made a declaration referred to in Article 7(1)(a) with respect to a depositary institution which thus acquired the status of international depositary authority shall entail the termination of such status one year after the day on which the Director General received the notification referred to in paragraph (1).
Signature and Languages of the Treaty
(a) This Treaty shall be signed in a single original in the English and French languages, both texts being equally authentic.
(b) Official texts of this Treaty shall be established by the Director General, after consultation with the interested Governments and within two months from the date of signature of this Treaty, in the other languages in which the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization was signed.
(c) Official texts of this Treaty shall be established by the Director General, after consultation with the interested Governments, in the Arabic, German, Italian, Japanese and Portuguese languages, and such other languages as the Assembly may designate.
(2) This Treaty shall remain open for signature at Budapest until December 31, 1977.
Deposit of the Treaty; Transmittal of Copies; Registration of the Treaty
(1) The original of this Treaty, when no longer open for signature, shall be deposited with the Director General.
(2) The Director General shall transmit two copies, certified by him, of this Treaty and the Regulations to the Governments of all the States referred to in Article 15(1), to the intergovernmental organizations that may file a declaration under Article 9(1)(a) and, on request, to the Government of any other State.
(3) The Director General shall register this Treaty with the Secretariat of the United Nations.
(4) The Director General shall transmit two copies, certified by him, of any amendment to this Treaty and to the Regulations to all Contracting States, to all intergovernmental industrial property organizations and, on request, to the Government of any other State and to any other intergovernmental organization that may file a declaration under Article 9(1)(a).
The Director General shall notify the Contracting States, the intergovernmental industrial property organizations and those States not members of the Union which are members of the International (Paris) Union for the Protection of Industrial Property of:
(i) signatures under Article 18;
(ii) deposits of instruments of ratification or accession under Article 15(2);
(iii) declarations filed under Article 9(1)(a) and notifications of withdrawal under Article 9(2) or (3);
(iv) the date of entry into force of this Treaty under Article 16(1);
(v) the communications under Articles 7 and 8 and the decisions under Article 8;
(vi) acceptance of amendments to this Treaty under Article 14(3);
(vii) any amendment of the Regulations;
(viii) the dates on which amendments to the Treaty or the Regulations enter into force;
(ix) denunciations received under Article 17.
Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs of November 6, 1925
(Revised in London, on June 2, 1934 and in Hague on November 28, 1960)
The contracting states agreed to the owners of an industrial design the possibility to have design effectively protected in several countries through international registration. Therefore the Parties shall revise the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs of November 6, 1925 and revised version in London on June 2, 1934, agreed upon:
(1) The contracting States constitute a Special Union for the international deposit of industrial designs.
(2) Only States members of the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property may become party to this Agreement.
For the purposes of this Agreement:
"1925 Agreement" shall mean the Hague Agreement concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs of November 6, 1925;
"1934 Agreement" shall mean the Hague Agreement concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs of November 6, 1925, as revised at London on June 2, 1934;
"this Agreement" or "the present Agreement" shall mean the Hague Agreement concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs as established by the present Act;
"Regulations" shall mean the Regulations for carrying out this Agreement;
"International Bureau" shall mean the Bureau of the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property;
"international deposit" shall mean a deposit made at the International Bureau;
"national deposit" shall mean a deposit made at the national Office of a contracting State;
"multiple deposit" shall mean a deposit including several designs;
"State of origin of an international deposit" shall mean the contracting State in which the applicant has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment or, if the applicant has such establishments in several contracting States, the contracting State which he has indicated in his application; if the applicant has no such establishment in any contracting State, the contracting State in which he has his domicile; if he has no domicile in a contracting State, the contracting State of which he is a national;
"State having a novelty examination" shall mean a contracting State the domestic law of which provides for a system which involves a preliminary ex officio search and examination by its national Office as to the novelty of each deposited design.
Nationals of contracting States and persons who, without being nationals of any contracting State, are domiciled or have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the territory of a contracting State may deposit designs at the International Bureau.
(1) International deposit may be made at the International Bureau:
1. direct, or
2. through the intermediary of the national Office of a contracting State if the law of that State so permits.
(2) The domestic law of any contracting State may require that international deposits of which it is deemed to be the State of origin shall be made through its national Office. Non-compliance with this requirement shall not prejudice the effects of the international deposit in the other contracting States.
(1) The international deposit shall consist of an application and one or more photographs or other graphic representations of the design, and shall involve payment of the fees prescribed by the Regulations.
(2) The application shall contain:
1. a list of the contracting States in which the applicant requests that the international deposit shall have effect;
2. the designation of the article or articles in which it is intended to incorporate the design;
3. if the applicant wishes to claim the priority provided for in Article 9, an indication of the date, the State, and the number of the deposit giving rise to the right of priority;
4. such other particulars as the Regulations may prescribe.
(a) In addition, the application may contain:
1. a short description of characteristic features of the design;
2. a declaration as to who is the true creator of the design;
3. a request for deferment of publication as provided in Article 6(4).
(b) The application may be accompanied also by samples or models of the article or articles incorporating the design.
(4) A multiple deposit may include several designs intended to be incorporated in articles included in the same class of the International Design Classification referred to in Article 21(2)4.
(1) The International Bureau shall maintain the International Design Register and shall register international deposits therein.
(2) The international deposit shall be deemed to have been made on the date on which the International Bureau received the application in due form, the fees payable with the application, and the photograph or photographs or other graphic representations of the design, or, if the International Bureau received them on different dates, on the last of these dates. The registration shall bear the same date.
(a) For each international deposit, the International Bureau shall publish in a periodical bulletin:
1. reproductions in black and white or, at the request of the applicant, in color of the deposited photographs or other graphic representations;
2. the date of the international deposit;
3. the particulars prescribed by the Regulations.
(b) The International Bureau shall send the periodical bulletin to the national Offices as soon as possible.
(a) The publication referred to in paragraph (3)(a) shall, at the request of the applicant, be deferred for such period as he may request. The said period may not exceed twelve months from the date of the international deposit. However, if priority is claimed, the starting date of such period shall be the priority date.
(b) At any time during the period referred to in subparagraph (a), the applicant may request immediate publication or may withdraw his deposit. Withdrawal of the deposit may be limited to one or a few only of the contracting States and, in the case of a multiple deposit, to some only of the designs included therein.
(c) If the applicant fails to pay within the proper time the fees payable before the expiration of the period referred to in subparagraph (a), the International Bureau shall cancel the deposit and shall not effect the publication referred to in paragraph (3)(a).
(d) Until the expiration of the period referred to in subparagraph (a), the International Bureau shall keep in confidence the registration of deposits made subject to deferred publication, and the public shall have no access to any documents or articles concerning such deposits. These provisions shall apply without limitation as to time if the applicant has withdrawn his deposit before the expiration of the said period.
(5) Except as provided in paragraph (4), the Register and all documents and articles filed with the International Bureau shall be open to inspection by the public.
(a) A deposit registered at the International Bureau shall have the same effect in each of the contracting States designated by the applicant in his application as if all the formalities required by the domestic law for the grant of protection had been complied with by the applicant and as if all administrative acts required to that end had been accomplished by the Office of such State.
(b) Subject to the provisions of Article 11, the protection of designs the deposit of which has been registered at the International Bureau is governed in each contracting State by those provisions of the domestic law which are applicable in that State to designs for which protection has been claimed on the basis of a national deposit and in respect of which all formalities and administrative acts have been complied with and accomplished.
(2) An international deposit shall have no effect in the State of origin if the laws of that State so provide.
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 7, the national Office of a contracting State whose domestic law provides that the national Office may, on the basis of an administrative ex officio examination or pursuant to an opposition by a third party, refuse protection shall, in case of refusal, notify the International Bureau within six months that the design does not meet the requirements of its domestic law other than the formalities and administrative acts referred to in Article 7(1). If no such refusal is notified within a period of six months the international deposit shall become effective in that State as from the date of that deposit. However, in a contracting State having a novelty examination, the international deposit, while retaining its priority, shall, if no refusal is notified within a period of six months, become effective from the expiration of the said period unless the domestic law provides for an earlier date for deposits made with its national Office.
(2) The period of six months referred to in paragraph (1) shall be computed from the date on which the national Office receives the issue of the periodical bulletin in which the registration of the international deposit has been published. The national Office shall communicate that date to any person so requesting.
(3) The applicant shall have the same remedies against the refusal of the national Office referred to in paragraph (1) as if he had deposited his design in that Office; in any case, the refusal shall be subject to a request for re-examination or appeal. Notification of such refusal shall indicate:
1. the reasons for which it has been found that the design does not meet the requirements of the domestic law;
2. the date referred to in paragraph (2);
3. the time allowed for a request for re-examination or appeal;
4. the authority to which such request or appeal may be addressed.
(a) The national Office of a contracting State whose domestic law contains provisions of the kind referred to in paragraph (1) requiring a declaration as to who is the true creator of the design or a description of the design may provide that, upon request and within a period of not less than sixty days from the dispatch of such a request by the said Office, the applicant shall file in the language of the application filed with the International Bureau:
2. a short description emphasizing the essential characteristic features of the design as shown by the photographs or other graphic representations.
(b) No fees shall be charged by a national Office in connection with the filing of such declarations or descriptions, or for their possible publication by that national Office.
(a) Any contracting State whose domestic law contains provisions of the kind referred to in paragraph (1) shall notify the International Bureau accordingly.
(b) If, under its legislation, a contracting State has several systems for the protection of designs one of which provides for novelty examination, the provisions of this Agreement concerning States having a novelty examination shall apply only to the said system.
If the international deposit of a design is made within six months of the first deposit of the same design in a State member of the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property, and if priority is claimed for the international deposit, the priority date shall be that of the first deposit.
(1) An international deposit may be renewed every five years by payment only, during the last year of each period of five years, of the renewal fees prescribed by the Regulations.
(2) Subject to the payment of a surcharge fixed by the Regulations, a period of grace of six months shall be granted for renewal of the international deposit.
(3) At the time of paying the renewal fees, the international deposit number must be indicated and also, if renewal is not to be effected for all the contracting States for which the deposit is about to expire, those of the contracting States for which the renewal is to be effected.
(4) Renewal may be limited to some only of the designs included in a multiple deposit.
(5) The International Bureau shall record and publish renewals.
(a) The term of protection granted by a contracting State to designs which have been the subject of an international deposit shall not be less than:
1. ten years from the date of the international deposit if the deposit has been renewed;
2. five years from the date of the international deposit in the absence of renewal.
(b) However, if, under the provisions of the domestic law of a contracting State having a novelty examination, protection commences at a date later than that of the international deposit, the minimum terms provided for in subparagraph (a) shall be computed from the date at which protection commences in that State. The fact that the international deposit is not renewed or is renewed only once shall in no way affect the minimum terms of protection thus defined.
(2) If the domestic law of a contracting State provides, in respect of designs which have been the subject of a national deposit, for protection whose duration, with or without renewal, is longer than ten years, protection of the same duration shall, on the basis of the international deposit and its renewals, be granted in that State to designs which have been the subject of an international deposit.
(3) A contracting State may, under its domestic law, limit the term of protection of designs which have been the subject of an international deposit to the terms provided for in paragraph (1).
(4) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (1)(b), protection in a contracting State shall terminate at the date of expiration of the international deposit, unless the domestic law of that State provides that protection shall continue after the date of expiration of the international deposit.
(1) The International Bureau shall record and publish changes affecting ownership of a design which is the subject of an international deposit in force. It is understood that transfer of ownership may be limited to the rights arising from the international deposit in one or a few only of the contracting States and, in the case of a multiple deposit, to some only of the designs included therein.
(2) The recording referred to in paragraph (1) shall have the same effect as if it had been made in the national Offices of the contracting States.
(1) The owner of an international deposit may, by means of a declaration addressed to the International Bureau, renounce his rights in respect of all or some only of the contracting States and, in the case of a multiple deposit, in respect of some only of the designs included therein.
(2) The International Bureau shall record and publish such declaration.
(1) No contracting State may, as a condition of recognition of the right to protection, require that the article incorporating the design bear a sign or notice concerning the deposit of the design.
(2) If the domestic law of a contracting State provides for a notice on the article for any other purpose, such State shall regard such requirement as satisfied if all the articles offered to the public with the authorization of the owner of the rights in the design, or the tags attached to such articles, bear the international design notice.
(3) The international design notice shall consist of the symbol (D) (a capital D in a circle) accompanied by:
1. the year of the international deposit and the name, or the usual abbreviation of the name, of the depositor, or
2. the number of the international deposit.
(4) The mere appearance of the international design notice on the article or the tags shall in no case be interpreted as implying a waiver of protection by virtue of copyright or on any other grounds, whenever, in the absence of such notice, such protection may be claimed.
(1) The fees prescribed by the Regulations shall consist of:
1. fees for the International Bureau;
2. fees for the contracting States designated by the applicant, namely:
(a) a fee for each contracting State;
(b) a fee for each contracting State having a novelty examination and requiring the payment of a fee for such examination.
(2) Any fees paid in respect of one and the same deposit for a contracting State under paragraph (1)2(a), shall be deducted from the amount of the fee referred to in paragraph (1)2(b), if the latter fee becomes payable for the same State.
(1) The fees for contracting States referred to in Article 15(1)2, shall be collected by the International Bureau and paid over annually to the contracting States designated by the applicant.
(a) Any contracting State may notify the International Bureau that it waives its right to the supplementary fees referred to in Article 15(1)2(a), in respect of international deposits of which any other contracting State making a similar waiver is deemed to be the State of origin.
(b) Such State may make a similar waiver in respect of international deposits of which it is itself deemed to be the State of origin.
The Regulations shall govern the details concerning the implementation of this Agreement and in particular:
1. the languages and the number of copies in which the application for deposit must be filed, and the data to be supplied in the application;
2. the amounts and the dates and method of payment of the fees for the International Bureau and for the States, including the limits imposed on the fee for contracting States having a novelty examination;
3. the number, size, and other characteristics, of the photographs or other graphic representations of each design deposited;
4. the length of the description of characteristic features of the design;
5. the limits within which and conditions under which samples or models of the articles incorporating the design may accompany the application;
6. the number of designs that may be included in a multiple deposit and other conditions governing multiple deposits;
7. all matters relating to the publication and distribution of the periodical bulletin referred to in Article 6(3)(a), including the number of copies of the bulletin which shall be given free of charge to the national Offices and the number of copies which may be sold at a reduced price to such Offices;
8. the procedure for notification by contracting States of any refusal provided for under Article 8(1), and the procedure for communication and publication of such refusals by the International Bureau;
9. the conditions for recording and publication by the International Bureau of the changes affecting the ownership of a design referred to in Article 12(1), and for the renunciations referred to in Article 13;
10. the disposal of documents and articles concerning deposits for which the possibility of renewal has ceased to exist.
The provisions of this Agreement shall not preclude the making of a claim to the benefit of any greater protection which may be granted by domestic legislation in a contracting State, nor shall they affect in any way the protection accorded to works of art and works of applied art by international copyright treaties and conventions.
The fees of the International Bureau for services provided for by this Agreement shall be fixed in such a manner:
(a) that the proceeds therefrom cover all the expenses of the International Design Service and all those necessitated by the preparation and holding of meetings of the International Design Committee or conferences for the revision of this Agreement;
(b) that they allow for the maintenance of the reserve fund referred to in Article 20.
(1) There shall be a reserve fund of 250,000 Swiss francs. The amount of the reserve fund may be modified by the International Design Committee referred to in Article 21.
(2) The reserve fund shall be replenished by the surplus receipts of the International Design Service.
(a) However, at the time of the entry into force of this Agreement, the reserve fund shall be constituted by a single contribution paid by each contracting State and computed in proportion to the number of units corresponding to the class to which it belongs by virtue of Article 13(8) of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
(b) States which become party to this Agreement after it enters into force shall also pay a single contribution. The contribution shall be computed according to the principles formulated in the preceding subparagraph, so that all States, whatever the date of their becoming party to the Agreement, shall pay the same contribution per unit.
(4) When the amount of the reserve fund exceeds the fixed ceiling, the surplus shall be periodically distributed among the contracting States, in proportion to the single contribution paid by each, up to the maximum amount of that contribution.
(5) When the single contributions have been fully reimbursed, the International Design Committee may decide that States subsequently becoming party to the Agreement shall not be required to pay the single contribution.
(1) There shall be an International Design Committee consisting of representatives of all the contracting States.
(2) The Committee shall have the following duties and powers:
1. to draw up its own rules of procedure;
2. to amend the Regulations;
3. to modify the ceiling of the reserve fund referred to in Article 20;
4. to establish the International Design Classification;
5. to study matters concerning the application and possible revision of this Agreement;
6. to study all other matters concerning the international protection of designs;
7. to approve the yearly management reports of the International Bureau and to give general instructions to the International Bureau concerning the discharge of the duties assigned to it under this Agreement;
8. to draw up a report on the foreseeable expenditure of the International Bureau for each triennial period to come.
(3) The decisions of the Committee shall require four-fifths of the votes of its members present or represented and voting in the case of items (2)1, (2)2, (2)3, and (2)4, and a simple majority in all other cases. Abstentions shall not be considered as votes.
(4) The Committee shall be convened by the Director of the International Bureau:
1. at least once every three years;
2. at any time at the request of one-third of the contracting States, or, if deemed necessary, upon the initiative of the Director of the International Bureau or the Government of the Swiss Confederation.
(5) The travel expenses and subsistence allowances of members of the Committee shall be borne by their respective Governments.
(1) The Regulations may be amended either by the Committee as prescribed in Article 21(2)2, or in accordance with the written procedure provided for in paragraph (2), below.
(2) In the case of written procedure, amendments shall be proposed by the Director of the International Bureau in a circular letter addressed to the Government of each contracting State. The amendments shall be regarded as adopted if, within one year from their communication, no contracting State has raised an objection.
(1) This Agreement shall remain open for signature until December 31, 1961.
(2) It shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Government of the Netherlands.
(1) States members of the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property which have not signed this Agreement may accede thereto.
(2) Such accessions shall be notified through diplomatic channels to the Government of the Swiss Confederation, and by the latter to the Governments of all contracting States.
(1) Each contracting State undertakes to provide for the protection of industrial designs and to adopt, in accordance with its constitution, the measures necessary to ensure the application of this Agreement.
(2) At the time a contracting State deposits its instrument of ratification or accession, it must be in a position under its domestic law to give effect to the provisions of this Agreement.
(1) This Agreement shall enter into force one month after the date on which the Government of the Swiss Confederation has dispatched a notification to the contracting States of the deposit of ten instruments of ratification or accession, at least four of which are those of States which, at the date of the present Agreement, are not party either to the 1925 Agreement or to the 1934 Agreement.
(2) Thereafter, the deposit of instruments of ratification and accession shall be notified to the contracting States by the Government of the Swiss Confederation. Such ratifications and accessions shall become effective one month after the date of the dispatch of such notification unless, in the case of accession, a later date is indicated in the instrument of accession.
Any contracting State may at any time notify the Government of the Swiss Confederation that this Agreement shall also apply to all or part of those territories for the external relations of which it is responsible. Thereupon, the Government of the Swiss Confederation shall communicate such notification to the contracting States and the Agreement shall apply also to the said territories one month after the dispatch of the communication by the Government of the Swiss Confederation to the contracting States unless a later date is indicated in the notification.
(1) Any contracting State may, by notification addressed to the Government of the Swiss Confederation, denounce this Agreement in its own name and on behalf of all or part of the territories designated in the notification under Article 27. Such notification shall take effect one year after its receipt by the Government of the Swiss Confederation.
(2) Denunciation shall not relieve any contracting State of its obligations under this Agreement in respect of designs deposited at the International Bureau prior to the date on which the denunciation takes effect.
(1) This Agreement shall be submitted to periodical revision with a view to the introduction of amendments designed to improve the protection resulting from the international deposit of designs.
(2) Revision conferences shall be called at the request of the International Design Committee or of not less than one-half of the contracting States.
(1) Two or more contracting States may at any time notify the Government of the Swiss Confederation that, subject to the conditions indicated in the notification:
1. a common Office shall be substituted for the national Office of each of them;
2. they shall be deemed to be a single State for the purposes of the application of Articles 2 to 17 of this Agreement.
(2) Such notification shall not take effect until six months after the date of dispatch of the communication thereof by the Government of the Swiss Confederation to the other contracting States.
(1) This Agreement alone shall be applicable as regards the mutual relations of States party to both the present Agreement and the 1925 Agreement or the 1934 Agreement. However, such States shall, in their mutual relations, apply the 1925 Agreement or the 1934 Agreement, as the case may be, to designs deposited at the International Bureau prior to the date on which the present Agreement becomes applicable as regards their mutual relations.
(a) Any State party to both the present Agreement and the 1925 Agreement shall continue to apply the 1925 Agreement in its relations with States party only to the 1925 Agreement, unless the said State has denounced the 1925 Agreement.
(b) Any State party to both the present Agreement and the 1934 Agreement shall continue to apply the 1934 Agreement in its relations with States party only to the 1934 Agreement, unless the said State has denounced the 1934 Agreement.
(3) States party to the present Agreement only shall not be bound to States which, without being party to the present Agreement, are party to the 1925 Agreement or the 1934 Agreement.
(1) Signature and ratification of, or accession to, the present Agreement by a State party, at the date of this Agreement, to the 1925 Agreement or the 1934 Agreement shall be deemed to include signature and ratification of, or accession to, the Protocol annexed to the present Agreement, unless such State makes an express declaration to the contrary at the time of signing or depositing its instrument of accession.
(2) Any contracting State having made the declaration referred to in paragraph (1), or any other contracting State not party to the 1925 Agreement or the 1934 Agreement, may sign or accede to the Protocol annexed to this Agreement. At the time of signing or depositing its instrument of accession, it may declare that it does not consider itself bound by the provisions of paragraphs 1(2)(a) or 1(2)(b) of the Protocol; in such case, the other States party to the Protocol shall be under no obligation to apply, in their relations with that State, the provisions mentioned in such declaration. The provisions of Articles 23 to 28 inclusive shall apply by analogy.
This Act shall be signed in a single copy which shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Netherlands. A certified copy shall be transmitted by the latter to the Government of each State which has signed or acceded to this Agreement.
This protocol is not yet in force.
States party to this Protocol have agreed as follows:
(1) The provisions of this Protocol shall apply to designs which have been the subject of an international deposit and of which one of the States party to this Protocol is deemed to be the State of origin.
(2) In respect of designs referred to in paragraph (1), above:
(a) the term of protection granted by States party to this Protocol to the designs referred to in paragraph (1) shall not be less than fifteen years from the date provided for in paragraphs 11(1)(a) or 11(1)(b), as the case may be;
(b) the appearance of a notice on the articles incorporating the designs or on the tags attached thereto shall in no case be required by the States party to this Protocol, either for the exercise in their territories of rights arising from the international deposit, or for any other purpose.
Trademark Law Treaty
The Kyrgyz Republic joined the Treaty in accordance with the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic on April 23, 2002, N 75
Adopted at Geneva on October 27, 1994
For the purposes of this Treaty, unless expressly stated otherwise:
(i) "Office" means the agency entrusted by a Contracting Party with the registration of marks;
(ii) "registration" means the registration of a mark by an Office;
(iii) "application" means an application for registration;
(iv) references to a "person" shall be construed as references to both a natural person and a legal entity;
(v) "holder" means the person whom the register of marks shows as the holder of the registration;
(vi) "register of marks" means the collection of data maintained by an Office, which includes the contents of all registrations and all data recorded in respect of all registrations, irrespective of the medium in which such data are stored;
(vii) "Paris Convention" means the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed at Paris on March 20, 1883, as revised and amended;
(viii) "Nice Classification" means the classification established by the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, signed at Nice on June 15, 1957, as revised and amended;
(ix) "Contracting Party" means any State or intergovernmental organization party to this Treaty;
(x) references to an "instrument of ratification" shall be construed as including references to instruments of acceptance and approval;
(xi) "Organization" means the World Intellectual Property Organization;
(xii) "Director General" means the Director General of the Organization;
(xiii) "Regulations" means the Regulations under this Treaty that are referred to in Article 17.
Marks to Which the Treaty Applies
(1) [ Nature of Marks ]
(a) This Treaty shall apply to marks consisting of visible signs, provided that only those Contracting Parties which accept for registration three-dimensional marks shall be obliged to apply this Treaty to such marks.
(b) This Treaty shall not apply to hologram marks and to marks not consisting of visible signs, in particular, sound marks and olfactory marks.
(2) [ Kinds of Marks ]
(a) This Treaty shall apply to marks relating to goods (trademarks) or services (service marks) or both goods and services.
(b) This Treaty shall not apply to collective marks, certification marks and guarantee marks.
(1) [ Indications or Elements Contained in or Accompanying an Application; Fee ]
(a) Any Contracting Party may require that an application contain some or all of the following indications or elements:
(i) a request for registration;
(ii) the name and address of the applicant;
(iii) the name of a State of which the applicant is a national if he is the national of any State, the name of a State in which the applicant has his domicile, if any, and the name of a State in which the applicant has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment, if any;
(iv) where the applicant is a legal entity, the legal nature of that legal entity and the State, and, where applicable, the territorial unit within that State, under the law of which the said legal entity has been organized;
(v) where the applicant has a representative, the name and address of that representative;
(vi) where an address for service is required under Article 4(2)(b), such address;
(vii) where the applicant wishes to take advantage of the priority of an earlier application, a declaration claiming the priority of that earlier application, together with indications and evidence in support of the declaration of priority that may be required pursuant to Article 4 of the Paris Convention;
(viii) where the applicant wishes to take advantage of any protection resulting from the display of goods and/or services in an exhibition, a declaration to that effect, together with indications in support of that declaration, as required by the law of the Contracting Party;
(ix) where the Office of the Contracting Party uses characters (letters and numbers) that it considers as being standard and where the applicant wishes that the mark be registered and published in standard characters, a statement to that effect;
(x) where the applicant wishes to claim color as a distinctive feature of the mark, a statement to that effect as well as the name or names of the color or colors claimed and an indication, in respect of each color, of the principal parts of the mark which are in that color;
(xi) where the mark is a three-dimensional mark, a statement to that effect;
(xii) one or more reproductions of the mark;
(xiii) a transliteration of the mark or of certain parts of the mark;
(xiv) a translation of the mark or of certain parts of the mark;
(xv) the names of the goods and/or services for which the registration is sought, grouped according to the classes of the Nice Classification, each group preceded by the number of the class of that Classification to which that group of goods or services belongs and presented in the order of the classes of the said Classification;
(xvi) a signature by the person specified in paragraph (4);
(xvii) a declaration of intention to use the mark, as required by the law of the Contracting Party.
(b) The applicant may file, instead of or in addition to the declaration of intention to use the mark referred to in subparagraph (a)(xvii), a declaration of actual use of the mark and evidence to that effect, as required by the law of the Contracting Party.
(c) Any Contracting Party may require that, in respect of the application, fees be paid to the Office.
(2) [ Presentation ] As regards the requirements concerning the presentation of the application, no Contracting Party shall refuse the application,
(i) where the application is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to paragraph (3), on a form corresponding to the application Form provided for in the Regulations,
(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the application is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to paragraph (3), to the application Form referred to in item (i).
(3) [ Language ] Any Contracting Party may require that the application be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office. Where the Office admits more than one language, the applicant may be required to comply with any other language requirement applicable with respect to the Office, provided that the application may not be required to be in more than one language.
(4) [ Signature ]
(a) The signature referred to in paragraph (1)(a)(xvi) may be the signature of the applicant or the signature of his representative.
(b) Notwithstanding subparagraph (a), any Contracting Party may require that the declarations referred to in paragraph (1)(a)(xvii) and (b) be signed by the applicant himself even if he has a representative.
(5) [ Single Application for Goods and/or Services in Several Classes ] One and the same application may relate to several goods and/or services, irrespective of whether they belong to one class or to several classes of the Nice Classification.
(6) [ Actual Use ] Any Contracting Party may require that, where a declaration of intention to use has been filed under paragraph (1)(a)(xvii), the applicant furnish to the Office within a time limit fixed in its law, subject to the minimum time limit prescribed in the Regulations, evidence of the actual use of the mark, as required by the said law.
(7) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) to (4) and (6) be complied with in respect of the application. In particular, the following may not be required in respect of the application throughout its pendency:
(i) the furnishing of any certificate of, or extract from, a register of commerce;
(ii) an indication of the applicant's carrying on of an industrial or commercial activity, as well as the furnishing of evidence to that effect;
(iii) an indication of the applicant's carrying on of an activity corresponding to the goods and/or services listed in the application, as well as the furnishing of evidence to that effect;
(iv) the furnishing of evidence to the effect that the mark has been registered in the register of marks of another Contracting Party or of a State party to the Paris Convention which is not a Contracting Party, except where the applicant claims the application of Article 6quinquies of the Paris Convention.
(8) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence be furnished to the Office in the course of the examination of the application where the Office may reasonably doubt the veracity of any indication or element contained in the application.
Representation; Address for Service
(1) [ Representatives Admitted to Practice ] Any Contracting Party may require that any person appointed as representative for the purposes of any procedure before the Office be a representative admitted to practice before the Office.
(2) [ Mandatory Representation; Address for Service ]
(a) Any Contracting Party may require that, for the purposes of any procedure before the Office, any person who has neither a domicile nor a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment on its territory be represented by a representative.
(b) Any Contracting Party may, to the extent that it does not require representation in accordance with subparagraph (a), require that, for the purposes of any procedure before the Office, any person who has neither a domicile nor a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment on its territory have an address for service on that territory.
(3) [ Power of Attorney ]
(a) Whenever a Contracting Party allows or requires an applicant, a holder or any other interested person to be represented by a representative before the Office, it may require that the representative be appointed in a separate communication (hereinafter referred to as "power of attorney") indicating the name of, and signed by, the applicant, the holder or the other person, as the case may be.
(b) The power of attorney may relate to one or more applications and/or registrations identified in the power of attorney or, subject to any exception indicated by the appointing person, to all existing and future applications and/or registrations of that person.
(c) The power of attorney may limit the powers of the representative to certain acts. Any Contracting Party may require that any power of attorney under which the representative has the right to withdraw an application or to surrender a registration contain an express indication to that effect.
(d) Where a communication is submitted to the Office by a person who refers to himself in the communication as a representative but where the Office is, at the time of the receipt of the communication, not in possession of the required power of attorney, the Contracting Party may require that the power of attorney be submitted to the Office within the time limit fixed by the Contracting Party, subject to the minimum time limit prescribed in the Regulations. Any Contracting Party may provide that, where the power of attorney has not been submitted to the Office within the time limit fixed by the Contracting Party, the communication by the said person shall have no effect.
(e) As regards the requirements concerning the presentation and contents of the power of attorney, no Contracting Party shall refuse the effects of the power of attorney,
(i) where the power of attorney is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to paragraph (4), on a form corresponding to the power of attorney Form provided for in the Regulations,
(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the power of attorney is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to paragraph (4), to the power of attorney Form referred to in item (i).
(4) [ Language ] Any Contracting Party may require that the power of attorney be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.
(5) [ Reference to Power of Attorney ] Any Contracting Party may require that any communication made to the Office by a representative for the purposes of a procedure before the Office contain a reference to the power of attorney on the basis of which the representative acts.
(6) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (3) to (5) be complied with in respect of the matters dealt with in those paragraphs.
(7) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence be furnished to the Office where the Office may reasonably doubt the veracity of any indication contained in any communication referred to in paragraphs (2) to (5).
(1) [ Permitted Requirements ]
(a) Subject to subparagraph (b) and paragraph (2), a Contracting Party shall accord as the filing date of an application the date on which the Office received the following indications and elements in the language required under Article 3(3):
(i) an express or implicit indication that the registration of a mark is sought;
(ii) indications allowing the identity of the applicant to be established;
(iii) indications sufficient to contact the applicant or his representative, if any, by mail;
(iv) a sufficiently clear reproduction of the mark whose registration is sought;
(v) the list of the goods and/or services for which the registration is sought;
(vi) where Article 3(1)(a)(xvii) or (b) applies, the declaration referred to in Article 3(1)(a)(xvii) or the declaration and evidence referred to in Article 3(1)(b), respectively, as required by the law of the Contracting Party, those declarations being, if so required by the said law, signed by the applicant himself even if he has a representative.
(b) Any Contracting Party may accord as the filing date of the application the date on which the Office received only some, rather than all, of the indications and elements referred to in subparagraph (a) or received them in a language other than the language required under Article 3(3).
(2) [ Permitted Additional Requirement ]
(a) A Contracting Party may provide that no filing date shall be accorded until the required fees are paid.
(b) A Contracting Party may apply the requirement referred to in subparagraph (a) only if it applied such requirement at the time of becoming party to this Treaty.
(3) [ Corrections and Time Limits ] The modalities of, and time limits for, corrections under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be fixed in the Regulations.
(4) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) be complied with in respect of the filing date.
Single Registration for Goods and/or Services in Several Classes
Where goods and/or services belonging to several classes of the Nice Classification have been included in one and the same application, such an application shall result in one and the same registration.
Division of Application and Registration
(1) [ Division of Application ]
(a) Any application listing several goods and/or services (hereinafter referred to as "initial application") may,
(i) at least until the decision by the Office on the registration of the mark,
(ii) during any opposition proceedings against the decision of the Office to register the mark,
(iii) during any appeal proceedings against the decision on the registration of the mark, be divided by the applicant or at his request into two or more applications (hereinafter referred to as "divisional applications") by distributing among the latter the goods and/or services listed in the initial application. The divisional applications shall preserve the filing date of the initial application and the benefit of the right of priority, if any.
(b) Any Contracting Party shall, subject to subparagraph (a), be free to establish requirements for the division of an application, including the payment of fees.
(2) [ Division of Registration ] Paragraph (1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, with respect to a division of a registration. Such a division shall be permitted
(i) during any proceedings in which the validity of the registration is challenged before the Office by a third party,
(ii) during any appeal proceedings against a decision taken by the Office during the former proceedings, provided that a Contracting Party may exclude the possibility of the division of registrations if its law allows third parties to oppose the registration of a mark before the mark is registered.
(1) [ Communication on Paper ] Where a communication to the Office of a Contracting Party is on paper and a signature is required, that Contracting Party
(i) shall, subject to item (iii), accept a handwritten signature,
(ii) shall be free to allow, instead of a handwritten signature, the use of other forms of signature, such as a printed or stamped signature, or the use of a seal,
(iii) may, where the natural person who signs the communication is its national and such person's address is in its territory, require that a seal be used instead of a handwritten signature,
(iv) may, where a seal is used, require that the seal be accompanied by an indication in letters of the name of the natural person whose seal is used.
(2) [ Communication by Telefacsimile ]
(a) Where a Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile, it shall consider the communication signed if, on the printout produced by the telefacsimile, the reproduction of the signature, or the reproduction of the seal together with, where required under paragraph (1)(iv), the indication in letters of the name of the natural person whose seal is used, appears.
(b) The Contracting Party referred to in subparagraph (a) may require that the paper whose reproduction was transmitted by telefacsimile be filed with the Office within a certain period, subject to the minimum period prescribed in the Regulations.
(3) [ Communication by Electronic Means ] Where a Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by electronic means, it shall consider the communication signed if the latter identifies the sender of the communication by electronic means as prescribed by the Contracting Party.
(4) [ Prohibition of Requirement of Certification ] No Contracting Party may require the attestation, notarization, authentication, legalization or other certification of any signature or other means of self-identification referred to in the preceding paragraphs, except, if the law of the Contracting Party so provides, where the signature concerns the surrender of a registration.
Classification of Goods and/or Services
(1) [ Indications of Goods and/or Services ] Each registration and any publication effected by an Office which concerns an application or registration and which indicates goods and/or services shall indicate the goods and/or services by their names, grouped according to the classes of the Nice Classification, and each group shall be preceded by the number of the class of that Classification to which that group of goods or services belongs and shall be presented in the order of the classes of the said Classification.
(2) [ Goods or Services in the Same Class or in Different Classes ]
(a) Goods or services may not be considered as being similar to each other on the ground that, in any registration or publication by the Office, they appear in the same class of the Nice Classification.
(b) Goods or services may not be considered as being dissimilar from each other on the ground that, in any registration or publication by the Office, they appear in different classes of the Nice Classification.
Changes in Names or Addresses
(1) [ Changes in the Name or Address of the Holder ]
(a) Where there is no change in the person of the holder but there is a change in his name and/or address, each Contracting Party shall accept that a request for the recordal of the change by the Office in its register of marks be made in a communication signed by the holder or his representative and indicating the registration number of the registration concerned and the change to be recorded. As regards the requirements concerning the presentation of the request, no Contracting Party shall refuse the request,
(i) where the request is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to subparagraph (c), on a form corresponding to the request Form provided for in the Regulations,
(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the request is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to subparagraph (c), to the request Form referred to in item (i).
(b) Any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate
(i) the name and address of the holder;
(ii) where the holder has a representative, the name and address of that representative;
(iii) where the holder has an address for service, such address.
(c) Any Contracting Party may require that the request be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.
(d) Any Contracting Party may require that, in respect of the request, a fee be paid to the Office.
(e) A single request shall be sufficient even where the change relates to more than one registration, provided that the registration numbers of all registrations concerned are indicated in the request.
(2) [ Change in the Name or Address of the Applicant ] Paragraph (1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, where the change concerns an application or applications, or both an application or applications and a registration or registrations, provided that, where the application number of any application concerned has not yet been issued or is not known to the applicant or his representative, the request otherwise identifies that application as prescribed in the Regulations.
(3) [ Change in the Name or Address of the Representative or in the Address for Service ] Paragraph (1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to any change in the name or address of the representative, if any, and to any change relating to the address for service, if any.
(4) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) to (3) be complied with in respect of the request referred to in this Article. In particular, the furnishing of any certificate concerning the change may not be required.
(5) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence be furnished to the Office where the Office may reasonably doubt the veracity of any indication contained in the request.
Change in Ownership
(1) [ Change in the Ownership of a Registration ]
(a) Where there is a change in the person of the holder, each Contracting Party shall accept that a request for the recordal of the change by the Office in its register of marks be made in a communication signed by the holder or his representative, or by the person who acquired the ownership (hereinafter referred to as "new owner") or his representative, and indicating the registration number of the registration concerned and the change to be recorded. As regards the requirements concerning the presentation of the request, no Contracting Party shall refuse the request,
(i) where the request is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to paragraph (2)(a), on a form corresponding to the request Form provided for in the Regulations,
(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the request is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to paragraph (2)(a), to the request Form referred to in item (i).
(b) Where the change in ownership results from a contract, any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate that fact and be accompanied, at the option of the requesting party, by one of the following:
(i) a copy of the contract, which copy may be required to be certified, by a notary public or any other competent public authority, as being in conformity with the original contract;
(ii) an extract of the contract showing the change in ownership, which extract may be required to be certified, by a notary public or any other competent public authority, as being a true extract of the contract;
(iii) an uncertified certificate of transfer drawn up in the form and with the content as prescribed in the Regulations and signed by both the holder and the new owner;
(iv) an uncertified transfer document drawn up in the form and with the content as prescribed in the Regulations and signed by both the holder and the new owner.
(c) Where the change in ownership results from a merger, any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate that fact and be accompanied by a copy of a document, which document originates from the competent authority and evidences the merger, such as a copy of an extract from a register of commerce, and that that copy be certified by the authority which issued the document or by a notary public or any other competent public authority, as being in conformity with the original document.
(d) Where there is a change in the person of one or more but not all of several co-holders and such change in ownership results from a contract or a merger, any Contracting Party may require that any co-holder in respect of which there is no change in ownership give his express consent to the change in ownership in a document signed by him.
(e) Where the change in ownership does not result from a contract or a merger but from another ground, for example, from operation of law or a court decision, any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate that fact and be accompanied by a copy of a document evidencing the change and that that copy be certified as being in conformity with the original document by the authority which issued the document or by a notary public or any other competent public authority.
(f) Any Contracting Party may require that the request indicate
(ii) the name and address of the new owner;
(iii) the name of a State of which the new owner is a national if he is the national of any State, the name of a State in which the new owner has his domicile, if any, and the name of a State in which the new owner has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment, if any;
(iv) where the new owner is a legal entity, the legal nature of that legal entity and the State, and, where applicable, the territorial unit within that State, under the law of which the said legal entity has been organized;
(v) where the holder has a representative, the name and address of that representative;
(vi) where the holder has an address for service, such address;
(vii) where the new owner has a representative, the name and address of that representative;
(viii) where the new owner is required to have an address for service under Article 4(2)(b), such address.
(g) Any Contracting Party may require that, in respect of the request, a fee be paid to the Office.
(h) A single request shall be sufficient even where the change relates to more than one registration, provided that the holder and the new owner are the same for each registration and that the registration numbers of all registrations concerned are indicated in the request.
(i) Where the change of ownership does not affect all the goods and/or services listed in the holder's registration, and the applicable law allows the recording of such change, the Office shall create a separate registration referring to the goods and/or services in respect of which the ownership has changed.
(2) [ Language; Translation ]
(a) Any Contracting Party may require that the request, the certificate of transfer or the transfer document referred to in paragraph (1) be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.
(b) Any Contracting Party may require that, if the documents referred to in paragraph (1)(b)(i) and (ii), (c) and (e) are not in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office, the request be accompanied by a translation or a certified translation of the required document in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.
(3) [ Change in the Ownership of an Application ] Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, where the change in ownership concerns an application or applications, or both an application or applications and a registration or registrations, provided that, where the application number of any application concerned has not yet been issued or is not known to the applicant or his representative, the request otherwise identifies that application as prescribed in the Regulations.
(4) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) to (3) be complied with in respect of the request referred to in this Article. In particular, the following may not be required:
(i) subject to paragraph (1)(c), the furnishing of any certificate of, or extract from, a register of commerce;
(ii) an indication of the new owner's carrying on of an industrial or commercial activity, as well as the furnishing of evidence to that effect;
(iii) an indication of the new owner's carrying on of an activity corresponding to the goods and/or services affected by the change in ownership, as well as the furnishing of evidence to either effect;
(iv) an indication that the holder transferred, entirely or in part, his business or the relevant goodwill to the new owner, as well as the furnishing of evidence to either effect.
(5) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence, or further evidence where paragraph (1)(c) or (e) applies, be furnished to the Office where that Office may reasonably doubt the veracity of any indication contained in the request or in any document referred to in the present Article.
Correction of a Mistake
(1) [ Correction of a Mistake in Respect of a Registration ]
(a) Each Contracting Party shall accept that the request for the correction of a mistake which was made in the application or other request communicated to the Office and which mistake is reflected in its register of marks and/or any publication by the Office be made in a communication signed by the holder or his representative and indicating the registration number of the registration concerned, the mistake to be corrected and the correction to be entered. As regards the requirements concerning the presentation of the request, no Contracting Party shall refuse the request,
(e) A single request shall be sufficient even where the correction relates to more than one registration of the same person, provided that the mistake and the requested correction are the same for each registration and that the registration numbers of all registrations concerned are indicated in the request.
(2) [ Correction of a Mistake in Respect of an Application ] Paragraph (1) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, where the mistake concerns an application or applications, or both an application or applications and a registration or registrations, provided that, where the application number of any application concerned has not yet been issued or is not known to the applicant or his representative, the request otherwise identifies that application as prescribed in the Regulations.
(3) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) be complied with in respect of the request referred to in this Article.
(4) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence be furnished to the Office where the Office may reasonably doubt that the alleged mistake is in fact a mistake.
(5) [ Mistakes Made by the Office ] The Office of a Contracting Party shall correct its own mistakes, ex officio or upon request, for no fee.
(6) [ Uncorrectable Mistakes ] No Contracting Party shall be obliged to apply paragraphs (1), (2) and (5) to any mistake which cannot be corrected under its law.
Duration and Renewal of Registration
(1) [ Indications or Elements Contained in or Accompanying a Request for Renewal; Fee ]
(a) Any Contracting Party may require that the renewal of a registration be subject to the filing of a request and that such request contain some or all of the following indications:
(i) an indication that renewal is sought;
(ii) the name and address of the holder;
(iii) the registration number of the registration concerned;
(iv) at the option of the Contracting Party, the filing date of the application which resulted in the registration concerned or the registration date of the registration concerned;
(vii) where the Contracting Party allows the renewal of a registration to be made for some only of the goods and/or services which are recorded in the register of marks and such a renewal is requested, the names of the recorded goods and/or services for which the renewal is requested or the names of the recorded goods and/or services for which the renewal is not requested, grouped according to the classes of the Nice Classification, each group preceded by the number of the class of that Classification to which that group of goods or services belongs and presented in the order of the classes of the said Classification;
(viii) where a Contracting Party allows a request for renewal to be filed by a person other than the holder or his representative and the request is filed by such a person, the name and address of that person;
(ix) a signature by the holder or his representative or, where item (viii) applies, a signature by the person referred to in that item.
(b) Any Contracting Party may require that, in respect of the request for renewal, a fee be paid to the Office. Once the fee has been paid in respect of the initial period of the registration or of any renewal period, no further payment may be required for the maintenance of the registration in respect of that period. Fees associated with the furnishing of a declaration and/or evidence of use shall not be regarded, for the purposes of this subparagraph, as payments required for the maintenance of the registration and shall not be affected by this subparagraph.
(c) Any Contracting Party may require that the request for renewal be presented, and the corresponding fee referred to in subparagraph (b) be paid, to the Office within the period fixed by the law of the Contracting Party, subject to the minimum periods prescribed in the Regulations.
(2) [ Presentation ] As regards the requirements concerning the presentation of the request for renewal, no Contracting Party shall refuse the request,
(i) where the request is presented in writing on paper, if it is presented, subject to paragraph (3), on a form corresponding to the request Form provided for in the Regulations,
(ii) where the Contracting Party allows the transmittal of communications to the Office by telefacsimile and the request is so transmitted, if the paper copy resulting from such transmittal corresponds, subject to paragraph (3), to the request Form referred to in item (i).
(3) [ Language ] Any Contracting Party may require that the request for renewal be in the language, or in one of the languages, admitted by the Office.
(4) [ Prohibition of Other Requirements ] No Contracting Party may demand that requirements other than those referred to in paragraphs (1) to (3) be complied with in respect of the request for renewal. In particular, the following may not be required:
(i) any reproduction or other identification of the mark;
(ii) the furnishing of evidence to the effect that the mark has been registered, or that its registration has been renewed, in the register of marks of any other Contracting Party;
(iii) the furnishing of a declaration and/or evidence concerning use of the mark.
(5) [ Evidence ] Any Contracting Party may require that evidence be furnished to the Office in the course of the examination of the request for renewal where the Office may reasonably doubt the veracity of any indication or element contained in the request for renewal.
(6) [ Prohibition of Substantive Examination ] No Office of a Contracting Party may, for the purposes of effecting the renewal, examine the registration as to substance.
(7) [ Duration ] The duration of the initial period of the registration, and the duration of each renewal period, shall be 10 years.
Observations in Case of Intended Refusal
An application or a request under Articles 10 to 13 may not be refused totally or in part by an Office without giving the applicant or the requesting party, as the case may be, an opportunity to make observations on the intended refusal within a reasonable time limit.
Obligation to Comply with the Paris Convention
Any Contracting Party shall comply with the provisions of the Paris Convention which concern marks.
Service Marks
Any Contracting Party shall register service marks and apply to such marks the provisions of the Paris Convention which concern trademarks.
Regulations2
(1) [ Content ]
(a) The Regulations annexed to this Treaty provide rules concerning
(i) matters which this Treaty expressly provides to be "prescribed in the Regulations";
(ii) any details useful in the implementation of the provisions of this Treaty;
(b) The Regulations also contain Model International Forms.
(2) [ Conflict Between the Treaty and the Regulations ] In the case of conflict between the provisions of this Treaty and those of the Regulations, the former shall prevail.
Revision; Protocols
(1) [ Revision ] This Treaty may be revised by a diplomatic conference.
(2) [ Protocols ] For the purposes of further developing the harmonization of laws on marks, protocols may be adopted by a diplomatic conference insofar as those protocols do not contravene the provisions of this Treaty.
(1) [ Eligibility ] The following entities may sign and, subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and Article 20(1) and (3), become party to this Treaty:
(i) any State member of the Organization in respect of which marks may be registered with its own Office;
(ii) any intergovernmental organization which maintains an Office in which marks may be registered with effect in the territory in which the constituting treaty of the intergovernmental organization applies, in all its member States or in those of its member States which are designated for such purpose in the relevant application, provided that all the member States of the intergovernmental organization are members of the Organization;
(iii) any State member of the Organization in respect of which marks may be registered only through the Office of another specified State that is a member of the Organization;
(iv) any State member of the Organization in respect of which marks may be registered only through the Office maintained by an intergovernmental organization of which that State is a member;
(v) any State member of the Organization in respect of which marks may be registered only through an Office common to a group of States members of the Organization.
(2) [ Ratification or Accession ] Any entity referred to in paragraph (1) may deposit
(i) an instrument of ratification, if it has signed this Treaty,
(ii) an instrument of accession, if it has not signed this Treaty.
(3) [ Effective Date of Deposit ]
(a) Subject to subparagraph (b), the effective date of the deposit of an instrument of ratification or accession shall be,
(i) in the case of a State referred to in paragraph (1)(i), the date on which the instrument of that State is deposited;
(ii) in the case of an intergovernmental organization, the date on which the instrument of that intergovernmental organization is deposited;
(iii) in the case of a State referred to in paragraph (1)(iii), the date on which the following condition is fulfilled: the instrument of that State has been deposited and the instrument of the other, specified State has been deposited;
(iv) in the case of a State referred to in paragraph (1)(iv), the date applicable under (ii), above;
(v) in the case of a State member of a group of States referred to in paragraph (1)(v), the date on which the instruments of all the States members of the group have been deposited.
(b) Any instrument of ratification or accession (referred to in this subparagraph as "instrument") of a State may be accompanied by a declaration making it a condition to its being considered as deposited that the instrument of one other State or one intergovernmental organization, or the instruments of two other States, or the instruments of one other State and one intergovernmental organization, specified by name and eligible to become party to this Treaty, is or are also deposited. The instrument containing such a declaration shall be considered to have been deposited on the day on which the condition indicated in the declaration is fulfilled. However, when the deposit of any instrument specified in the declaration is, itself, accompanied by a declaration of the said kind, that instrument shall be considered as deposited on the day on which the condition specified in the latter declaration is fulfilled.
(c) Any declaration made under paragraph (b) may be withdrawn, in its entirety or in part, at any time. Any such withdrawal shall become effective on the date on which the notification of withdrawal is received by the Director General.
(1) [ Instruments to Be Taken Into Consideration ] For the purposes of this Article, only instruments of ratification or accession that are deposited by entities referred to in Article 19(1) and that have an effective date according to Article 19(3) shall be taken into consideration.
(2) [ Entry Into Force of the Treaty ] This Treaty shall enter into force three months after five States have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession.
(3) [ Entry Into Force of Ratifications and Accessions Subsequent to the Entry Into Force of the Treaty ] Any entity not covered by paragraph (2) shall become bound by this Treaty three months after the date on which it has deposited its instrument of ratification or accession.
(1) [ Special Kinds of Marks ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare through a reservation that, notwithstanding Article 2(1)(a) and (2)(a), any of the provisions of Articles 3(1) and (2), 5, 7, 11 and 13 shall not apply to associated marks, defensive marks or derivative marks. Such reservation shall specify those of the aforementioned provisions to which the reservation relates.
(2) [ Modalities ] Any reservation under paragraph (1) shall be made in a declaration accompanying the instrument of ratification of, or accession to, this Treaty of the State or intergovernmental organization making the reservation.
(3) [ Withdrawal ] Any reservation under paragraph (1) may be withdrawn at any time.
(4) [ Prohibition of Other Reservations ] No reservation to this Treaty other than the reservation allowed under paragraph (1) shall be permitted.
(1) [ Single Application for Goods and Services in Several Classes; Division of Application ]
(a) Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 3(5), an application may be filed with the Office only in respect of goods or services which belong to one class of the Nice Classification.
(b) Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 6, where goods and/or services belonging to several classes of the Nice Classification have been included in one and the same application, such application shall result in two or more registrations in the register of marks, provided that each and every such registration shall bear a reference to all other such registrations resulting from the said application.
(c) Any State or intergovernmental organization that has made a declaration under subparagraph (a) may declare that, notwithstanding Article 7(1), no application may be divided.
(2) [ Single Power of Attorney for More Than One Application and/or Registration ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 4(3)(b), a power of attorney may only relate to one application or one registration.
(3) [ Prohibition of Requirement of Certification of Signature of Power of Attorney and of Signature of Application ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 8(4), the signature of a power of attorney or the signature by the applicant of an application may be required to be the subject of an attestation, notarization, authentication, legalization or other certification.
(4) [ Single Request for More Than One Application and/or Registration in Respect of a Change in Name and/or Address, a Change in Ownership or a Correction of a Mistake ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 10(1)(e), (2) and (3), Article 11(1)(h) and (3) and Article 12(1)(e) and (2), a request for the recordal of a change in name and/or address, a request for the recordal of a change in ownership and a request for the correction of a mistake may only relate to one application or one registration.
(5) [ Furnishing, on the Occasion of Renewal, of Declaration and/or Evidence Concerning Use ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 13(4)(iii), it will require, on the occasion of renewal, the furnishing of a declaration and/or of evidence concerning use of the mark.
(6) [ Substantive Examination on the Occasion of Renewal ] Any State or intergovernmental organization may declare that, notwithstanding Article 13(6), the Office may, on the occasion of the first renewal of a registration covering services, examine such registration as to substance, provided that such examination shall be limited to the elimination of multiple registrations based on applications filed during a period of six months following the entry into force of the law of such State or organization that introduced, before the entry into force of this Treaty, the possibility of registering service marks.
(7) [ Common Provisions ]
(a) A State or an intergovernmental organization may make a declaration under paragraphs (1) to (6) only if, at the time of depositing its instrument of ratification of, or accession to, this Treaty, the continued application of its law would, without such a declaration, be contrary to the relevant provisions of this Treaty.
(b) Any declaration under paragraphs (1) to (6) shall accompany the instrument of ratification of, or accession to, this Treaty of the State or intergovernmental organization making the declaration.
(c) Any declaration made under paragraphs (1) to (6) may be withdrawn at any time.
(8) [ Loss of Effect of Declaration ]
(a) Subject to subparagraph (c), any declaration made under paragraphs (1) to (5) by a State regarded as a developing country in conformity with the established practice of the General Assembly of the United Nations, or by an intergovernmental organization each member of which is such a State, shall lose its effect at the end of a period of eight years from the date of entry into force of this Treaty.
(b) Subject to subparagraph (c), any declaration made under paragraphs (1) to (5) by a State other than a State referred to in subparagraph (a), or by an intergovernmental organization other than an intergovernmental organization referred to in subparagraph (a), shall lose its effect at the end of a period of six years from the date of entry into force of this Treaty.
(c) Where a declaration made under paragraphs (1) to (5) has not been withdrawn under paragraph (7)(c), or has not lost its effect under subparagraph (a) or (b), before October 28, 2004, it shall lose its effect on October 28, 2004.
(9) [ Becoming Party to the Treaty ] Until December 31, 1999, any State which, on the date of the adoption of this Treaty, is a member of the International (Paris) Union for the Protection of Industrial Property without being a member of the Organization may, notwithstanding Article 19(1)(i), become a party to this Treaty if marks may be registered with its own Office.
(1) [ Notification ] Any Contracting Party may denounce this Treaty by notification addressed to the Director General.
(2) [ Effective Date ] Denunciation shall take effect one year from the date on which the Director General has received the notification. It shall not affect the application of this Treaty to any application pending or any mark registered in respect of the denouncing Contracting Party at the time of the expiration of the said one-year period, provided that the denouncing Contracting Party may, after the expiration of the said one-year period, discontinue applying this Treaty to any registration as from the date on which that registration is due for renewal.
Languages of the Treaty; Signature
(1) [ Original Texts; Official Texts ]
(a) This Treaty shall be signed in a single original in the English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish languages, all texts being equally authentic.
(b) At the request of a Contracting Party, an official text in a language not referred to in subparagraph (a) that is an official language of that Contracting Party shall be established by the Director General after consultation with the said Contracting Party and any other interested Contracting Party.
(2) [ Time Limit for Signature ] This Treaty shall remain open for signature at the headquarters of the Organization for one year after its adoption.
The Director General shall be the depositary of this Treaty.
Locarno Agreement Establishing an
International Classification for Industrial Designs
Signed at Locarno on October 8, 1968
as amended on September 28, 1979
Establishment of a Special Union; Adoption of an International Classification
Use and Legal Scope of the International Classification
Committee of Experts
Notification and Publication of the Classification and of Amendments and Additions Thereto
Assembly of the Special Union
Amendment of Articles 5 to 8
Ratification and Accession; Entry Into Force
Force and Duration of the Agreement
Revision of Articles 1 to 4 and 9 to 15
Signature, Languages, Notifications
Transitional Provision
(1) The countries to which this Agreement applies constitute a Special Union.
(2) They adopt a single classification for industrial designs (hereinafter designated as "the international classification").
(3) The international classification shall comprise:
(i) a list of classes and subclasses;
(ii) an alphabetical list of goods in which industrial designs are incorporated, with an indication of the classes and subclasses into which they fall;
(iii) explanatory notes.
(4) The list of classes and subclasses is the list annexed to the present Agreement, subject to such amendments and additions as the Committee of Experts set up under Article 3 (hereinafter designated as "the Committee of Experts") may make to it.
(5) The alphabetical list of goods and the explanatory notes shall be adopted by the Committee of Experts in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 3.
(6) The international classification may be amended or supplemented by the Committee of Experts, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 3.
(a) The international classification shall be established in the English and French languages.
(b) Official texts of the international classification, in such other languages as the Assembly referred to in Article 5 may designate, shall be established, after consultation with the interested Governments, by the International Bureau of Intellectual Property (hereinafter designated as "the International Bureau") referred to in the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (hereinafter designated as "the Organization").
(1) Subject to the requirements prescribed by this Agreement, the international classification shall be solely of an administrative character. Nevertheless, each country may attribute to it the legal scope which it considers appropriate. In particular, the international classification shall not bind the countries of the Special Union as regards the nature and scope of the protection afforded to the design in those countries.
(2) Each country of the Special Union reserves the right to use the international classification as a principal or as a subsidiary system.
(3) The Offices of the countries of the Special Union shall include in the official documents for the deposit or registration of designs, and, if they are officially published, in the publications in question, the numbers of the classes and subclasses of the international classification into which the goods incorporating the designs belong.
(4) In selecting terms for inclusion in the alphabetical list of goods, the Committee of Experts shall exercise reasonable care to avoid using terms in which exclusive rights may exist. The inclusion of any word in the alphabetical index, however, is not an expression of opinion of the Committee of Experts on whether or not it is subject to exclusive rights.
(1) A Committee of Experts shall be entrusted with the tasks referred to in Article 1(4), 1(5) and 1(6). Each country of the Special Union shall be represented on the Committee of Experts, which shall be organized according to rules of procedure adopted by a simple majority of the countries represented.
(2) The Committee of Experts shall adopt the alphabetical list and explanatory notes by a simple majority of the votes of the countries of the Special Union.
(3) Proposals for amendments or additions to the international classification may be made by the Office of any country of the Special Union or by the International Bureau. Any proposal emanating from an Office shall be communicated by that Office to the International Bureau. Proposals from Offices and from the International Bureau shall be transmitted by the latter to the members of the Committee of Experts not later than two months before the session of the Committee at which the said proposals are to be considered.
(4) The decisions of the Committee of Experts concerning the adoption of amendments and additions to be made in the international classification shall be by a simple majority of the countries of the Special Union. Nevertheless, if such decisions entail the setting up of a new class or any transfer of goods from one class to another, unanimity shall be required.
(5) Each expert shall have the right to vote by mail.
(6) If a country does not appoint a representative for a given session of the Committee of Experts, or if the expert appointed has not expressed his vote during the session or within a period to be prescribed by the rules of procedure of the Committee of Experts, the country concerned shall be considered to have accepted the decision of the Committee.
(1) The alphabetical list of goods and the explanatory notes adopted by the Committee of Experts, as well as any amendment or addition to the international classification decided by the Committee, shall be communicated to the Offices of the countries of the Special Union by the International Bureau. The decisions of the Committee of Experts shall enter into force as soon as the communication is received. Nevertheless, if such decisions entail the setting up of a new class or any transfer of goods from one class to another, they shall enter into force within a period of six months from the date of the said communication.
(2) The International Bureau, as depositary of the international classification, shall incorporate therein the amendments and additions which have entered into force. Announcements of the amendments and additions shall be published in the periodicals to be designated by the Assembly.
(a) The Special Union shall have an Assembly consisting of the countries of the Special Union.
(b) The Government of each country of the Special Union shall be represented by one delegate, who may be assisted by alternate delegates, advisors, and experts.
(c) The expenses of each delegation shall be borne by the Government which has appointed it.
(a) Subject to the provisions of Article 3, the Assembly shall:
(i) deal with all matters concerning the maintenance and development of the Special Union and the implementation of this Agreement;
(ii) give directions to the International Bureau concerning the preparation for conferences of revision;
(iii) review and approve the reports and activities of the Director General of the Organization (hereinafter designated as "the Director General") concerning the Special Union, and give him all necessary instructions concerning matters within the competence of the Special Union;
(iv) determine the program and adopt the biennial budget of the Special Union, and approve its final accounts;
(v) adopt the financial regulations of the Special Union;
(vi) decide on the establishment of official texts of the international classification in languages other than English and French;
(vii) establish, in addition to the Committee of Experts set up under Article 3, such other committees of experts and working groups as it deems appropriate to achieve the objectives of the Special Union;
(viii) determine which countries not members of the Special Union and which intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations shall be admitted to its meetings as observers;
(ix) adopt amendments to Articles 5 to 8;
(x) take any other appropriate action designed to further the objectives of the Special Union;
(xi) perform such other functions as are appropriate under this Agreement.
(a) Each country member of the Assembly shall have one vote.
(b) One-half of the countries members of the Assembly shall constitute a quorum.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (b), if, in any session, the number of countries represented is less than one-half but equal to or more than one-third of the countries members of the Assembly, the Assembly may make decisions but, with the exception of decisions concerning its own procedure, all such decisions shall take effect only if the conditions set forth hereinafter are fulfilled. The International Bureau shall communicate the said decisions to the countries members of the Assembly which were not represented and shall invite them to express in writing their vote or abstention within a period of three months from the date of the communication. If, at the expiration of this period, the number of countries having thus expressed their vote or abstention attains the number of countries which was lacking for attaining the quorum in the session itself, such decisions shall take effect provided that at the same time the required majority still obtains.
(d) Subject to the provisions of Article 8(2), the decisions of the Assembly shall require two-thirds of the votes cast.
(e) Abstentions shall not be considered as votes.
(f) A delegate may represent, and vote in the name of, one country only.
(b) The Assembly shall meet in extraordinary session upon convocation by the Director General, at the request of one-fourth of the countries members of the Assembly.
(a) Administrative tasks concerning the Special Union shall be performed by the International Bureau.
(b) In particular, the International Bureau shall prepare the meetings and provide the secretariat of the Assembly, the Committee of Experts, and such other committees of experts and working groups as may have been established by the Assembly or the Committee of Experts.
(c) The Director General shall be the chief executive of the Special Union and shall represent the Special Union.
(2) The Director General and any staff member designated by him shall participate, without the right to vote, in all meetings of the Assembly, the Committee of Experts, and such other committees of experts or working groups as may have been established by the Assembly or the Committee of Experts. The Director General, or a staff member designated by him, shall be ex officio secretary of those bodies.
(a) The International Bureau shall, in accordance with the directions of the Assembly, make the preparations for the conferences of revision of the provisions of the Agreement other than Articles 5 to 8.
(b) The International Bureau may consult with intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations concerning preparations for conferences of revision.
(c) The Director General and persons designated by him shall take part, without the right to vote, in the discussions at those conferences.
(4) The International Bureau shall carry out any other tasks assigned to it.
(a) The Special Union shall have a budget.
(b) The budget of the Special Union shall include the income and expenses proper to the Special Union, its contribution to the budget of expenses common to the Unions, and, where applicable, the sum made available to the budget of the Conference of the Organization.
(c) Expenses not attributable exclusively to the Special Union but also to one or more other Unions administered by the Organization shall be considered as expenses common to the Unions. The share of the Special Union in such common expenses shall be in proportion to the interest the Special Union has in them.
(2) The budget of the Special Union shall be established with due regard to the requirements of coordination with the budgets of the other Unions administered by the Organization.
(3) The budget of the Special Union shall be financed from the following sources:
(i) contributions of the countries of the Special Union;
(ii) fees and charges due for services rendered by the International Bureau in relation to the Special Union;
(iii) sale of, or royalties on, the publications of the International Bureau concerning the Special Union;
(iv) gifts, bequests, and subventions;
(v) rents, interests, and other miscellaneous income.
(a) For the purpose of establishing its contribution referred to in paragraph (3)(i), each country of the Special Union shall belong to the same class as it belongs to in the Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property, and shall pay its annual contributions on the basis of the same number of units as is fixed for that class in that Union.
(b) The annual contribution of each country of the Special Union shall be an amount in the same proportion to the total sum to be contributed to the budget of the Special Union by all countries as the number of its units is to the total of the units of all contributing countries.
(c) Contributions shall become due on the first of January of each year.
(d) A country which is in arrears in the payment of its contributions may not exercise its right to vote in any organ of the Special Union if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years. However, any organ of the Special Union may allow such a country to continue to exercise its right to vote in that organ if, and as long as, it is satisfied that the delay in payment is due to exceptional and unavoidable circumstances.
(e) If the budget is not adopted before the beginning of a new financial period, it shall be at the same level as the budget of the previous year, as provided in the financial regulations.
(5) The amount of the fees and charges due for services rendered by the International Bureau in relation to the Special Union shall be established, and shall be reported to the Assembly, by the Director General.
(a) The Special Union shall have a working capital fund which shall be constituted by a single payment made by each country of the Special Union. If the fund becomes insufficient, the Assembly shall decide to increase it.
(b) The amount of the initial payment of each country to the said fund or of its participation in the increase thereof shall be a proportion of the contribution of that country for the year in which the fund is established or the decision to increase it is made.
(c) The proportion and the terms of payment shall be fixed by the Assembly on the proposal of the Director General and after it has heard the advice of the Coordination Committee of the Organization.
(a) In the headquarters agreement concluded with the country on the territory of which the Organization has its headquarters, it shall be provided that, whenever the working capital fund is insufficient, such country shall grant advances. The amount of those advances and the conditions on which they are granted shall be the subject of separate agreements, in each case, between such country and the Organization.
(b) The country referred to in subparagraph (a) and the Organization shall each have the right to denounce the obligation to grant advances, by written notification. Denunciation shall take effect three years after the end of the year in which it has been notified.
(8) The auditing of the accounts shall be effected by one or more of the countries of the Special Union or by external auditors, as provided in the financial regulations. They shall be designated, with their agreement, by the Assembly.
(1) Proposals for the amendment of Articles 5, 6, 7, and the present Article, may be initiated by any country of the Special Union or by the Director General. Such proposals shall be communicated by the Director General to the countries of the Special Union at least six months in advance of their consideration by the Assembly.
(2) Amendments to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall be adopted by the Assembly. Adoption shall require three-fourths of the votes cast, provided that any amendment to Article 5, and to the present paragraph, shall require four-fifths of the votes cast.
(3) Any amendment to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall enter into force one month after written notifications of acceptance, effected in accordance with their respective constitutional processes, have been received by the Director General from three-fourths of the countries members of the Special Union at the time the amendment was adopted. Any amendment to the said Articles thus accepted shall bind all the countries which are members of the Special Union at the time the amendment enters into force, or which become members thereof at a subsequent date, provided that any amendment increasing the financial obligations of countries of the Special Union shall bind only those countries which have notified their acceptance of such amendment.
(1) Any country party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property which has signed this Agreement may ratify it, and, if it has not signed it, may accede to it.
(2) Instruments of ratification and accession shall be deposited with the Director General.
(a) With respect to the first five countries which have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession, this Agreement shall enter into force three months after the deposit of the fifth such instrument.
(b) With respect to any other country, this Agreement shall enter into force three months after the date on which its ratification or accession has been notified by the Director General, unless a subsequent date has been indicated in the instrument of ratification or accession. In the latter case, this Agreement shall enter into force with respect to that country on the date thus indicated.
(4) Ratification or accession shall automatically entail acceptance of all the clauses and admission to all the advantages of this Agreement.
This Agreement shall have the same force and duration as the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
(1) Articles 1 to 4 and 9 to 15 of this Agreement may be submitted to revision with a view to the introduction of desired improvements.
(2) Every revision shall be considered at a conference which shall be held among the delegates of the countries of the Special Union.
(1) Any country may denounce this Agreement by notification addressed to the Director General. Such denunciation shall affect only the country making it, the Agreement remaining in full force and effect as regards the other countries of the Special Union.
(2) Denunciation shall take effect one year after the day on which the Director General has received the notification.
(3) The right of denunciation provided by this Article shall not be exercised by any country before the expiration of five years from the date upon which it becomes a member of the Special Union.
The provisions of Article 24 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property shall apply to this Agreement.
(a) This Agreement shall be signed in a single copy in the English and French languages, both texts being equally authentic, and shall be deposited with the Government of Switzerland.
(b) This Agreement shall remain open for signature at Berne until June 30, 1969.
(2) Official texts shall be established by the Director General, after consultation with the interested Governments, in such other languages as the Assembly may designate.
(3) The Director General shall transmit two copies, certified by the Government of Switzerland, of the signed text of this Agreement to the Governments of the countries that have signed it and, on request, to the Government of any other country.
(4) The Director General shall register this Agreement with the Secretariat of the United Nations.
(5) The Director General shall notify the Governments of all countries of the Special Union of the date of entry into force of the Agreement, signatures, deposits of instruments of ratification or accession, acceptances of amendments to this Agreement and the dates on which such amendments enter into force, and notifications of denunciation.
Until the first Director General assumes office, references in this Agreement to the International Bureau of the Organization or to the Director General shall be deemed to be references to the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI) or its Director, respectively.
Madrid Agreement Concerning
the International Registration of Marks
of April 14, 1891,
as revised
at Brussels on December 14, 1900, at Washington on June 2, 1911,
at The Hague on November 6, 1925, at London on June 2, 1934,
at Nice on June 15, 1957,
and at Stockholm on July 14, 1967,
and as amended on September 28, 1979
[Establishment of a Special Union. Filing of Marks at International Bureau. Definition of Country of Origin]3
(1) The countries to which this Agreement applies constitute a Special Union for the International registration of marks.
(2) Nationals of any of the contracting countries may, in all the other countries party to this Agreement, secure protection for their marks applicable to goods or services, registered in the country of origin, by filing the said marks at the International Bureau of Intellectual Property (hereinafter designated as "the International Bureau") referred to in the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (hereinafter designated as "the Organization"), through the intermediary of the Office of the said country of origin.
(3) Shall be considered the country of origin the country of the Special Union where the applicant has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment; if he has no such establishment in a country of the Special Union, the country of the Special Union where he has his domicile; if he has no domicile within the Special Union but is a national of a country of the Special Union, the country of which he is a national.
[Reference to Article 3 of Paris Convention (Same Treatment for Certain Categories of Persons as for Nationals of Countries of the Union)]
Nationals of countries not having acceded to this Agreement who, within the territory of the Special Union constituted by the said Agreement, satisfy the conditions specified in Article 3 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property shall be treated in the same manner as nationals of the contracting countries.
[Contents of Application for International Registration]
(1) Every application for international registration must be presented on the form prescribed by the Regulations; the Office of the country of origin of the mark shall certify that the particulars appearing in such application correspond to the particulars in the national register, and shall mention the dates and numbers of the filing and registration of the mark in the country of origin and also the date of the application for international registration.
(2) The applicant must indicate the goods or services in respect of which protection of the mark is claimed and also, if possible, the corresponding class or classes according to the classification established by the Nice Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks. If the applicant does not give such indication, the International Bureau shall classify the goods or services in the appropriate classes of the said classification. The indication of classes given by the applicant shall be subject to control by the International Bureau, which shall exercise the said control in association with the national Office. In the event of disagreement between the national Office and the International Bureau, the opinion of the latter shall prevail.
(3) If the applicant claims color as a distinctive feature of his mark, he shall be required:
1. to state the fact, and to file with his application a notice specifying the color or the combination of colors claimed;
2. to append to his application copies in color of the said mark, which shall be attached to the notification given by the International Bureau. The number of such copies shall be fixed by the Regulations.
(4) The International Bureau shall register immediately the marks filed in accordance with Article 1. The registration shall bear the date of the application for international registration in the country of origin, provided that the application has been received by the International Bureau within a period of two months from that date. If the application has not been received within that period, the International Bureau shall record it as at the date on which it received the said application. The International Bureau shall notify such registration without delay to the Offices concerned. Registered marks shall be published in a periodical journal issued by the International Bureau, on the basis of the particulars contained in the application for registration. In the case of marks comprising a figurative element or a special form of writing, the Regulations shall determine whether a printing block must be supplied by the applicant.
(5) With a view to the publicity to be given in the contracting countries to registered marks, each Office shall receive from the International Bureau a number of copies of the said publication free of charge and a number of copies at a reduced price, in proportion to the number of units mentioned in Article 16(4)(a) of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, under the conditions fixed by the Regulations. Such publicity shall be deemed in all the contracting countries to be sufficient, and no other publicity may be required of the applicant.
Article 3bis
["Territorial Limitation"]
(1) Any contracting country may, at any time, notify the Director General of the Organization (hereinafter designated as "the Director General") in writing that the protection resulting from the international registration shall extend to that country only at the express request of the proprietor of the mark.
(2) Such notification shall not take effect until six months after the date of the communication thereof by the Director General to the other contracting countries.
[Request for "Territorial Extension"]
(1) Any request for extension of the protection resulting from the international registration to a country which has availed itself of the right provided for in Article 3bis must be specially mentioned in the application referred to in Article 3(1).
(2) Any request for territorial extension made subsequently to the international registration must be presented through the intermediary of the Office of the country of origin on a form prescribed by the Regulations. It shall be immediately registered by the International Bureau, which shall notify it without delay to the Office or Offices concerned. It shall be published in the periodical journal issued by the International Bureau. Such territorial extension shall be effective from the date on which it has been recorded in the International Register; it shall cease to be valid on the expiration of the international registration of the mark to which it relates.
[Effects of International Registration]
(1) From the date of the registration so effected at the International Bureau in accordance with the provisions of Articles 3 and 3ter, the protection of the mark in each of the contracting countries concerned shall be the same as if the mark had been filed therein direct. The indication of classes of goods or services provided for in Article 3 shall not bind the contracting countries with regard to the determination of the scope of the protection of the mark.
(2) Every mark which has been the subject of an international registration shall enjoy the right of priority provided for by Article 4 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, without requiring compliance with the formalities prescribed in Section D of that Article.
[Substitution of International Registration for Earlier National Registrations]
(1) When a mark already filed in one or more of the contracting countries is later registered by the International Bureau in the name of the same proprietor or his successor in title, the international registration shall be deemed to have replaced the earlier national registrations, without prejudice to any rights acquired by reason of such earlier registrations.
(2) The national Office shall, upon request, be required to take note in its registers of the international registration.
[Refusal by National Offices]
(1) In countries where the legislation so authorizes, Offices notified by the International Bureau of the registration of a mark or of a request for extension of protection made in accordance with Article 3ter shall have the right to declare that protection cannot be granted to such mark in their territory. Any such refusal can be based only on the grounds which would apply, under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, in the case of a mark filed for national registration. However, protection may not be refused, even partially, by reason only that national legislation would not permit registration except in a limited number of classes or for a limited number of goods or services.
(2) Offices wishing to exercise such right must give notice of their refusal to the International Bureau, together with a statement of all grounds, within the period prescribed by their domestic law and, at the latest, before the expiration of one year from the date of the international registration of the mark or of the request for extension of protection made in accordance with Article 3ter.
(3) The International Bureau shall, without delay, transmit to the Office of the country of origin and to the proprietor of the mark, or to his agent if an agent has been mentioned to the Bureau by the said Office, one of the copies of the declaration of refusal so notified. The interested party shall have the same remedies as if the mark had been filed by him direct in the country where protection is refused.
(4) The grounds for refusing a mark shall be communicated by the International Bureau to any interested party who may so request.
(5) Offices which, within the aforesaid maximum period of one year, have not communicated to the International Bureau any provisional or final decision of refusal with regard to the registration of a mark or a request for extension of protection shall lose the benefit of the right provided for in paragraph (1) of this Article with respect to the mark in question.
(6) Invalidation of an international mark may not be pronounced by the competent authorities without the proprietor of the mark having, in good time, been afforded the opportunity of defending his rights. Invalidation shall be notified to the International Bureau.
[Documentary Evidence of Legitimacy of Use of Certain Elements of Mark]
Documentary evidence of the legitimacy of the use of certain elements incorporated in a mark, such as armorial bearings, escutcheons, portraits, honorary distinctions, titles, trade names, names of persons other than the name of the applicant, or other like inscriptions, which might be required by the Offices of the contracting countries shall be exempt from any legalization or certification other than that of the Office of the country of origin.
[Copies of Entries in International Register. Searches for Anticipation. Extracts from International Register]
(1) The International Bureau shall issue to any person applying therefor, subject to a fee fixed by the Regulations, a copy of the entries in the Register relating to a specific mark.
(2) The International Bureau may also, upon payment, undertake searches for anticipation among international marks.
(3) Extracts from the International Register requested with a view to their production in one of the contracting countries shall be exempt from all legalization.
[Period of Validity of International Registration. Independence of International Registration. Termination of Protection in Country of Origin]
(1) Registration of a mark at the International Bureau is effected for twenty years, with the possibility of renewal under the conditions specified in Article 7.
(2) Upon expiration of a period of five years from the date of the international registration, such registration shall become independent of the national mark registered earlier in the country of origin, subject to the following provisions.
(3) The protection resulting from the international registration, whether or not it has been the subject of a transfer, may no longer be invoked, in whole or in part, if, within five years from the date of the international registration, the national mark, registered earlier in the country of origin in accordance with Article 1, no longer enjoys, in whole or in part, legal protection in that country. This provision shall also apply when legal protection has later ceased as the result of an action begun before the expiration of the period of five years.
(4) In the case of voluntary or ex officio cancellation, the Office of the country of origin shall request the cancellation of the mark at the International Bureau, and the latter shall effect the cancellation. In the case of judicial action, the said Office shall send to the International Bureau, ex officio or at the request of the plaintiff, a copy of the complaint or any other documentary evidence that an action has begun, and also of the final decision of the court; the Bureau shall enter notice thereof in the International Register.
[Renewal of International Registration]
(1) Any registration may be renewed for a period of twenty years from the expiration of the preceding period, by payment only of the basic fee and, where necessary, of the supplementary and complementary fees provided for in Article 8(2).
(2) Renewal may not include any change in relation to the previous registration in its latest form.
(3) The first renewal effected under the provisions of the Nice Act of June 15, 1957, or of this Act, shall include an indication of the classes of the International Classification to which the registration relates.
(4) Six months before the expiration of the term of protection, the International Bureau shall, by sending an unofficial notice, remind the proprietor of the mark and his agent of the exact date of expiration.
(5) Subject to the payment of a surcharge fixed by the Regulations, a period of grace of six months shall be granted for renewal of the international registration.
[National Fee. International Fee. Division of Excess Receipts, Supplementary Fees, and Complementary Fees]
(1) The Office of the country of origin may fix, at its own discretion, and collect, for its own benefit, a national fee which it may require from the proprietor of the mark in respect of which international registration or renewal is applied for.
(2) Registration of a mark at the International Bureau shall be subject to the advance payment of an international fee which shall include:
(a) a basic fee;
(b) a supplementary fee for each class of the International Classification, beyond three, into which the goods or services to which the mark is applied will fall;
(c) a complementary fee for any request for extension of protection under A3Article 3ter.
(3) However, the supplementary fee specified in paragraph (2)(b) may, without prejudice to the date of registration, be paid within a period fixed by the Regulations if the number of classes of goods or services has been fixed or disputed by the International Bureau. If, upon expiration of the said period, the supplementary fee has not been paid or the list of goods or services has not been reduced to the required extent by the applicant, the application for international registration shall be deemed to have been abandoned.
(4) The annual returns from the various receipts from international registration, with the exception of those provided for under (b) and (c) of paragraph (2), shall he divided equally among the countries party to this Act by the International Bureau, after deduction of the expenses and charges necessitated by the implementation of the said Act. If, at the time this Act enters into force, a country has not yet ratified or acceded to the said Act, it shall be entitled, until the date on which its ratification or accession becomes effective, to a share of the excess receipts calculated on the basis of that earlier Act which is applicable to it.
(5) The amounts derived from the supplementary fees provided for in paragraph (2)(b) shall be divided at the expiration of each year among the countries party to this Act or to the Nice Act of June 15, 1957, in proportion to the number of marks for which protection has been applied for in each of them during that year, this number being multiplied, in the case of countries which make a preliminary examination, by a coefficient which shall be determined by the Regulations. If, at the time this Act enters into force, a country has not yet ratified or acceded to the said Act, it shall be entitled, until the date on which its ratification or accession becomes effective, to a share of the amounts calculated on the basis of the Nice Act.
(6) The amounts derived from the complementary fees provided for in paragraph (2)(c) shall be divided according to the requirements of paragraph (5) among the countries availing themselves of the right provided for in Article 3bis. If, at the time this Act enters into force, a country has not yet ratified or acceded to the said Act, it shall be entitled, until the date on which its ratification or accession becomes effective, to a share of the amounts calculated on the basis of the Nice Act.
[Renunciation in Respect of One or More Countries]
The person in whose name the international registration stands may at any time renounce protection in one or more of the contracting countries by means of a declaration filed with the Office of his own country, for communication to the International Bureau, which shall notify accordingly the countries in respect of which renunciation has been made. Renunciation shall not be subject to any fee.
[Changes in National Registers also Affecting International Registration. Reduction of List of Goods and Services Mentioned in International Registration. Additions to that List. Substitutions in that List]
(1) The Office of the country of the person in whose name the international registration stands shall likewise notify the International Bureau of all annulments, cancellations, renunciations, transfers, and other changes made in the entry of the mark in the national register, if such changes also affect the international registration.
(2) The Bureau shall record those changes in the International Register, shall notify them in turn to the Offices of the contracting countries, and shall publish them in its journal.
(3) A similar procedure shall be followed when the person in whose name the international registration stands requests a reduction of the list of goods or services to which the registration applies.
(4) Such transactions may be subject to a fee, which shall be fixed by the Regulations.
(5) The subsequent addition of new goods or services to the said list can be obtained only by filing a new application as prescribed in Article 3.
(6) The substitution of one of the goods or services for another shall be treated as an addition.
[Transfer of International Mark Entailing Change in Country of Proprietor]
(1) When a mark registered in the International Register is transferred to a person established in a contracting country other than the country of the person in whose name the international registration stands, the transfer shall be notified to the International Bureau by the Office of the latter country. The International Bureau shall record the transfer, shall notify the other Offices thereof, and shall publish it in its journal. If the transfer has been effected before the expiration of a period of five years from the international registration, the International Bureau shall seek the consent of the Office of the country of the new proprietor, and shall publish, if possible, the date and registration number of the mark in the country of the new proprietor.
(2) No transfer of a mark registered in the International Register for the benefit of a person who is not entitled to file an international mark shall be recorded.
(3) When it has not been possible to record a transfer in the International Register, either because the country of the new proprietor has refused its consent or because the said transfer has been made for the benefit of a person who is not entitled to apply for international registration, the Office of the country of the former proprietor shall have the right to demand that the International Bureau cancel the mark in its Register.
[Assignment of International Mark for Part Only of Registered Goods or Services or for Certain Contracting Countries. Reference to Article 6quater of Paris Convention (Assignment of Mark)]
(1) If the assignment of an international mark for part only of the registered goods or services is notified to the International Bureau, the Bureau shall record it in its Register. Each of the contracting countries shall have the right to refuse to recognize the validity of such assignment if the goods or services included in the part so assigned are similar to those in respect of which the mark remains registered for the benefit of the assignor.
(2) The International Bureau shall likewise record the assignment of an international mark in respect of one or several of the contracting countries only.
(3) If, in the above cases, a change occurs in the country of the proprietor, the Office of the country to which the new proprietor belongs shall, if the international mark has been transferred before the expiration of a period of five years from the international registration, give its consent as required by Article 9bis.
(4) The provisions of the foregoing paragraphs shall apply subject to Article 6quater of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
Article 9quater
[Common Office for Several Contracting Countries. Request by Several Contracting Countries to be Treated as a Single Country]
(1) If several countries of the Special Union agree to effect the unification of their domestic legislation's on marks, they may notify the Director General:
(a) that a common Office shall be substituted for the national Office of each of them, and
(b) that the whole of their respective territories shall be deemed to be a single country for the purposes of the application of all or part of the provisions preceding this Article.
[Assembly of the Special Union]
(a) The Special Union shall have an Assembly consisting of those countries which have ratified or acceded to this Act.
(b) The Government of each country shall be represented by one delegate, who may be assisted by alternate delegates, advisors, and experts.
(c) The expenses of each delegation shall be borne by the Government which has appointed it, except for the travel expenses and the subsistence allowance of one delegate for each member country, which shall be paid from the funds of the Special Union.
(ii) give directions to the International Bureau concerning the preparation for conferences of revision, due account being taken of any comments made by those countries of the Special Union which have not ratified or acceded to this Act;
(iii) modify the Regulations, including the fixation of the amounts of the fees referred to in Article 8(2) and other fees relating to international registration;
(iv) review and approve the reports and activities of the Director General concerning the Special Union, and give him all necessary instructions concerning matters within the competence of the Special Union;
(v) determine the program and adopt the biennal budget of the Special Union, and approve its final accounts;
(vi) adopt the financial regulations of the Special Union;
(vii) establish such committees of experts and working groups as it may deem necessary to achieve the objectives of the Special Union;
(viii) determine which countries not members of the Special Union and which intergovernmental and international non–governmental organizations shall be admitted to its meetings as observers;
(ix) adopt amendments to Articles 10 to 13;
(b) One–half of the countries members of the Assembly shall constitute a quorum.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (b), if, in any session, the number of countries represented is less than one–half but equal to or more than one–third of the countries members of the Assembly, the Assembly may make decisions but, with the exception of decisions concerning its own procedure, all such decisions shall take effect only if the conditions set forth hereinafter are fulfilled. The International Bureau shall communicate the said decisions to the countries members of the Assembly which were not represented and shall invite them to express in writing their vote or abstention within a period of three months from the date of the communication. If, at the expiration of this period, the number of countries having thus expressed their vote or abstention attains the number of countries which was lacking for attaining the quorum in the session itself, such decisions shall take effect provided that at the same time the required majority still obtains.
(d) Subject to the provisions of Article 13(2), the decisions of the Assembly shall require two–thirds of the votes cast.
(g) Countries of the Special Union not members of the Assembly shall be admitted to the meetings of the latter as observers.
(b) The Assembly shall meet in extraordinary session upon convocation by the Director General, at the request of one–fourth of the countries members of the Assembly.
[International Bureau]
(a) International registration and related duties, as well as all other administrative tasks concerning the Special Union, shall be performed by the International Bureau.
(b) In particular, the International Bureau shall prepare the meetings and provide the secretariat of the Assembly and of such committees of experts and working groups as may have been established by the Assembly.
(2) The Director General and any staff member designated by him shall participate, without the right to vote, in all meetings of the Assembly and of such committees of experts or working groups as may have been established by the Assembly. The Director General, or a staff member designated by him, shall be ex officio secretary of those bodies.
(a) The International Bureau shall, in accordance with the directions of the Assembly, make the preparations for the conferences of revision of the provisions of the Agreement other than Articles 10 to 13.
(b) The International Bureau may consult with intergovernmental and international non–governmental organizations concerning preparations for conferences of revision.
[Finances]
(i) international registration fees and other fees and charges due for other services rendered by the International Bureau in relation to the Special Union;
(ii) sale of, or royalties on, the publications of the International Bureau concerning the Special Union;
(iii) gifts, bequests, and subventions;
(iv) rents, interests, and other miscellaneous income.
(a) The amounts of the fees referred to in Article 8(2) and other fees relating to international registration shall be fixed by the Assembly on the proposal of the Director General.
(b) The amounts of such fees shall be so fixed that the revenues of the Special Union from fees, other than the supplementary and complementary fees referred to in Article 8(2)(b) and (c), and other sources shall be at least sufficient to cover the expenses of the International Bureau concerning the Special Union.
(5) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4)(a), the amount of fees and charges due for other services rendered by the International Bureau in relation to the Special Union shall be established, and shall be reported to the Assembly, by the Director General.
(b) The amount of the initial payment of each country to the said fund or of its participation in the increase thereof shall be a proportion of the contribution of that country as a member of the Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property to the budget of the said Union for the year in which the fund is established or the decision to increase it is made.
(c) The proportion and the terms of payment shall be fixed by the Assembly on the proposal of the Director General and after it has beard the advice of the Coordination Committee of the Organization.
(d) As long as the Assembly authorizes the use of the reserve fund of the Special Union as a working capital fund, the Assembly may suspend the application of the provisions of subparagraphs (a), (b), and (c).
[Amendment of Articles 10 to 13]
(1) Proposals for the amendment of Articles 10, 11, 12, and the present Article, may be initiated by any country member of the Assembly, or by the Director General. Such proposals shall be communicated by the Director General to the member countries of the Assembly at least six months in advance of their consideration by the Assembly.
(2) Amendments to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall be adopted by the Assembly. Adoption shall require three–fourths of the votes cast, provided that any amendment to Article 10, and to the present paragraph, shall require four–fifths of the votes cast.
(3) Any amendment to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall enter into force one month after written notifications of acceptance, effected in accordance with their respective constitutional processes, have been received by the Director General from three–fourths of the countries members of the Assembly at the time it adopted the amendment. Any amendment to the said Articles thus accepted shall bind all the countries which are members of the Assembly at the time the amendment enters into force, or which become members thereof at a subsequent date.
[Ratification and Accession. Entry into Force. Accession to Earlier Acts. Reference to Article 24 of Paris Convention (Territories)]
(1) Any country of the Special Union which has signed this Act may ratify it, and, if it has not signed it, may accede to it.
(a) Any country outside the Special Union which is party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property may accede to this Act and thereby become a member of the Special Union.
(b) As soon as the International Bureau is informed that such a country has acceded to this Act, it shall address to the Office of that country, in accordance with Article 3, a collective notification of the marks which, at that time, enjoy international protection.
(c) Such notification shall, of itself, ensure to the said marks the benefits of the foregoing provisions in the territory of the said country, and shall mark the commencement of the period of one year during which the Office concerned may make the declaration provided for in Article 5.
(d) However, any such country may, in acceding to this Act, declare that, except in the case of international marks which have already been the subject in that country of an earlier identical national registration still in force, and which shall be immediately recognized upon the request of the interested parties, application of this Act shall be limited to marks registered from the date on which its accession enters into force.
(e) Such declaration shall dispense the International Bureau from making the collective notification referred to above. The International Bureau shall notify only those marks in respect of which it receives, within a period of one year from the accession of the new country, a request, with the necessary particulars, to take advantage of the exception provided for in subparagraph (d).
(f) The International Bureau shall not make the collective notification to such countries as declare, in acceding to this Act, that they are availing themselves of the right provided for in Article 3bis. The said countries may also declare at the same time that the application of this Act shall be limited to marks registered from the day on which their accessions enter into force; however, such limitation shall not affect international marks which have already been the subject of an earlier identical national registration in those countries, and which could give rise to requests for extension of protection made and notified in accordance with Articles 3ter and 8(2)(c).
(g) Registrations of marks which have been the subject of one of the notifications provided for in this paragraph shall be regarded as replacing registrations effected direct in the new contracting country before the date of entry into force of its accession.
(a) With respect to the first five countries which have deposited their instruments of ratification or accession, this Act shall enter into force three months after the deposit of the fifth such instrument.
(b) With respect to any other country, this Act shall enter into force three months after the date on which its ratification or accession has been notified by the Director General, unless a subsequent date has been indicated in the instrument of ratification or accession. In the latter case, this Act shall enter into force with respect to that country on the date thus indicated.
(5) Ratification or accession shall automatically entail acceptance of all the clauses and admission to all the advantages of this Act.
(6) After the entry into force of this Act, a country may accede to the Nice Act of June 15, 1957, only in conjunction with ratification of, or accession to, this Act. Accession to Acts earlier than the Nice Act shall not be permitted, not even in conjunction with ratification of, or accession to, this Act.
(7) The provisions of Article 24 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property shall apply to this Agreement.
[Denunciation]
(1) This Agreement shall remain in force without limitation as to time.
(2) Any country may denounce this Act by notification addressed to the Director General. Such denunciation shall constitute also denunciation of all earlier Acts and shall affect only the country making it, the Agreement remaining in full force and effect as regards the other countries of the Special Union.
(4) The right of denunciation provided for by this Article shall not be exercised by any country before the expiration of five years from the date upon which it becomes a member of the Special Union.
(5) International marks registered up to the date on which denunciation becomes effective, and not refused within the period of one year provided for in Article 5, shall continue, throughout the period of international protection, to enjoy the same protection as if they had been filed direct in the denouncing country.
[Application of Earlier Acts]
(a) This Act shall, as regards the relations between the countries of the Special Union by which it has been ratified or acceded to, replace, as from the day on which it enters into force with respect to them, the Madrid Agreement of 1891, in its texts earlier than this Act.
(b) However, any country of the Special Union which has ratified or acceded to this Act shall remain bound by the earlier texts which it has not previously denounced by virtue of Article 12(4) of the Nice Act of June 15, 1957, as regards its relations with countries which have not ratified or acceded to this Act.
(2) Countries outside the Special Union which become party to this Act shall apply it to international registrations effected at the International Bureau through the intermediary of the national Office of any country of the Special Union not party to this Act, provided that such registrations satisfy, with respect to the said countries, the requirements of this Act. With regard to international registrations effected at the International Bureau through the intermediary of the national Offices of the said countries outside the Special Union which become party to this Act, such countries recognize that the aforesaid country of the Special Union may demand compliance with the requirements of the most recent Act to which it is party.
[Signature, Languages, Depository Functions]
(a) This Act shall be signed in a single copy in the French language and shall be deposited with the Government of Sweden.
(2) This Act shall remain open for signature at Stockholm until January 13, 1968.
(3) The Director General shall transmit two copies, certified by the Government of Sweden, of the signed text of this Act to the Governments of all countries of the Special Union and, on request, to the Government of any other country.
(4) The Director General shall register this Act with the Secretariat of the United Nations.
(5) The Director General shall notify the Governments of all countries of the Special Union of signatures, deposits of instruments of ratification or accession and any declarations included in such instruments, entry into force of any provisions of this Act, notifications of denunciation, and notifications pursuant to Articles 3bis, 9quater, 13, 14(7), and 15(2).
[Transitional Provisions]
(1) Until the first Director General assumes office, references in this Act to the International Bureau of the Organization or to the Director General shall be construed as references to the Bureau of the Union established by the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property or its Director, respectively.
(2) Countries of the Special Union not having ratified or acceded to this Act may, until five years after the entry into force of the Convention establishing the Organization, exercise, if they so desire, the rights provided for under Articles 10 to 13 of this Act as if they were bound by those Articles. Any country desiring to exercise such rights shall give written notification to that effect to the Director General; such notification shall be effective from the date of its receipt. Such countries shall be deemed to be members of the Assembly until the expiration of the said period.
(of December 2, 1961, as Revised at Geneva on November 10, 1972, on October 23, 1978, and on March 19, 1991)
(i) "this Convention" means the present (1991) Act of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants;
(ii) "Act of 1961/1972" means the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants of December 2, 1961, as amended by the Additional Act of November 10, 1972;
(iii) "Act of 1978" means the Act of October 23, 1978, of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants;
(iv) "breeder" means
-the person who bred, or discovered and developed, a variety,
-the person who is the employer of the aforementioned person or who has commissioned the latter's work, where the laws of the relevant Contracting Party so provide, or
-the successor in title of the first or second aforementioned person, as the case may be;
(v) "breeder's right" means the right of the breeder provided for in this Convention;
(vi) "variety" means a plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank, which grouping, irrespective of whether the conditions for the grant of a breeder's right are fully met, can be
-defined by the expression of the characteristics resulting from a given genotype or combination of genotypes,
-distinguished from any other plant grouping by the expression of at least one of the said characteristics and
-considered as a unit with regard to its suitability for being propagated unchanged;
(vii) "Contracting Party" means a State or an intergovernmental organization party to this Convention;
(viii) "territory," in relation to a Contracting Party, means, where the Contracting Party is a State, the territory of that State and, where the Contracting Party is an intergovernmental organization, the territory in which the constituting treaty of that intergovernmental organization applies;
(ix) "authority" means the authority referred to in Article 30(1)(ii);
(x) "Union" means the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants founded by the Act of 1961 and further mentioned in the Act of 1972, the Act of 1978 and in this Convention;
(xi) "member of the Union" means a State party to the Act of 1961/1972 or the Act of 1978, or a Contracting Party.
GENERAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES
Basic Obligation of the Contracting Parties
Each Contracting Party shall grant and protect breeders' rights.
Genera and Species to be Protected
(1)[States already members of the Union] Each Contracting Party which is bound by the Act of 1961/1972 or the Act of 1978 shall apply the provisions of this Convention,
(i) at the date on which it becomes bound by this Convention, to all plant genera and species to which it applies, on the said date, the provisions of the Act of 1961/1972 or the Act of 1978 and,
(ii) at the latest by the expiration of a period of five years after the said date, to all plant genera and species.
(2)[New members of the Union] Each Contracting Party which is not bound by the Act of 1961/1972 or the Act of 1978 shall apply the provisions of this Convention,
(i) at the date on which it becomes bound by this Convention, to at least 15 plant genera or species and,
(ii) at the latest by the expiration of a period of 10 years from the said date, to all plant genera and species.
National Treatment
(1)[Treatment] Without prejudice to the rights specified in this Convention, nationals of a Contracting Party as well as natural persons resident and legal entities having their registered offices within the territory of a Contracting Party shall, insofar as the grant and protection of breeders' rights are concerned, enjoy within the territory of each other Contracting Party the same treatment as is accorded or may hereafter be accorded by the laws of each such other Contracting Party to its own nationals, provided that the said nationals, natural persons or legal entities comply with the conditions and formalities imposed on the nationals of the said other Contracting Party.
(2)["Nationals"] For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, "nationals" means, where the Contracting Party is a State, the nationals of that State and, where the Contracting Party is an intergovernmental organization, the nationals of the States which are members of that organization.
CONDITIONS FOR THE GRANT OF THE BREEDER'S RIGHT
Conditions of Protection
(1)[Criteria to be satisfied] The breeder's right shall be granted where the variety is
(i) new,
(ii)distinct,
(iii)uniform and
(iv) stable.
(2)[Other conditions] The grant of the breeder's right shall not be subject to any further or different conditions, provided that the variety is designated by a denomination in accordance with the provisions of Article 20, that the applicant complies with the formalities provided for by the law of the Contracting Party with whose authority the application has been filed and that he pays the required fees.
(1)[Criteria] The variety shall be deemed to be new if, at the date of filing of the application for a breeder's right, propagating or harvested material of the variety has not been sold or otherwise disposed of to others, by or with the consent of the breeder, for purposes of exploitation of the variety
(i) in the territory of the Contracting Party in which the application has been filed earlier than one year before that date and
(ii)in a territory other than that of the Contracting Party in which the application has been filed earlier than four years or, in the case of trees or of vines, earlier than six years before the said date.
(2)[Varieties of recent creation] Where a Contracting Party applies this Convention to a plant genus or species to which it did not previously apply this Convention or an earlier Act, it may consider a variety of recent creation existing at the date of such extension of protection to satisfy the condition of novelty defined in paragraph (1) even where the sale or disposal to others described in that paragraph took place earlier than the time limits defined in that paragraph.
(3)["Territory" in certain cases] For the purposes of paragraph (1), all the Contracting Parties which are member States of one and the same intergovernmental organization may act jointly, where the regulations of that organization so require, to assimilate acts done on the territories of the States members of that organization to acts done on their own territories and, should they do so, shall notify the Secretary-General accordingly.
Distinctness
The variety shall be deemed to be distinct if it is clearly distinguishable from any other variety whose existence is a matter of common knowledge at the time of the filing of the application. In particular, the filing of an application for the granting of a breeder's right or for the entering of another variety in an official register of varieties, in any country, shall be deemed to render that other variety a matter of common knowledge from the date of the application, provided that the application leads to the granting of a breeder's right or to the entering of the said other variety in the official register of varieties, as the case may be.
The variety shall be deemed to be uniform if, subject to the variation that may be expected from the particular features of its propagation, it is sufficiently uniform in its relevant characteristics.
The variety shall be deemed to be stable if its relevant characteristics remain unchanged after repeated propagation or, in the case of a particular cycle of propagation, at the end of each such cycle.
APPLICATION FOR THE GRANT OF THE BREEDER'S RIGHT
Filing of Applications
(1)[Place of first application] The breeder may choose the Contracting Party with whose authority he wishes to file his first application for a breeder's right.
(2)[Time of subsequent applications] The breeder may apply to the authorities of other Contracting Parties for the grant of breeders' rights without waiting for the grant to him of a breeder's right by the authority of the Contracting Party with which the first application was filed.
(3)[Independence of protection] No Contracting Party shall refuse to grant a breeder's right or limit its duration on the ground that protection for the same variety has not been applied for, has been refused or has expired in any other State or intergovernmental organization.
Right of Priority
(1)[The right; its period] Any breeder who has duly filed an application for the protection of a variety in one of the Contracting Parties (the "first application") shall, for the purpose of filing an application for the grant of a breeder's right for the same variety with the authority of any other Contracting Party (the "subsequent application"), enjoy a right of priority for a period of twelve months. This period shall be computed from the date of filing of the first application. The day of filing shall not be included in the latter period.
(2)[Claiming the right] In order to benefit from the right of priority, the breeder shall, in the subsequent application, claim the priority of the first application. The authority with which the subsequent application has been filed may require the breeder to furnish, within a period of not less than three months from the filing date of the subsequent application, a copy of the documents which constitute the first application, certified to be a true copy by the authority with which that application was filed, and samples or other evidence that the variety which is the subject matter of both applications is the same.
(3)[Documents and material] The breeder shall be allowed a period of two years after the expiration of the period of priority or, where the first application is rejected or withdrawn, an appropriate time after such rejection or withdrawal, in which to furnish, to the authority of the Contracting Party with which he has filed the subsequent application, any necessary information, document or material required for the purpose of the examination under Article 12, as required by the laws of that Contracting Party.
(4)[Events occurring during the period] Events occurring within the period provided for in paragraph (1), such as the filing of another application or the publication or use of the variety that is the subject of the first application, shall not constitute a ground for rejecting the subsequent application. Such events shall also not give rise to any third-party right.
Examination of the Application
Any decision to grant a breeder's right shall require an examination for compliance with the conditions under Article 5 to Article 9. In the course of the examination, the authority may grow the variety or carry out other necessary tests, cause the growing of the variety or the carrying out of other necessary tests, or take into account the results of growing tests or other trials which have already been carried out. For the purposes of examination, the authority may require the breeder to furnish all the necessary information, documents or material.
Provisional Protection
Each Contracting Party shall provide measures designed to safeguard the interests of the breeder during the period between the filing or the publication of the application for the grant of a breeder's right and the grant of that right. Such measures shall have the effect that the holder of a breeder's right shall at least be entitled to equitable remuneration from any person who, during the said period, has carried out acts which, once the right is granted, require the breeder's authorization as provided in Article 14. A Contracting Party may provide that the said measures shall only take effect in relation to persons whom the breeder has notified of the filing of the application.
THE RIGHTS OF THE BREEDER
Scope of the Breeder's Right
(1)[Acts in respect of the propagating material]
(a)Subject to Article 15 and Article 16, the following acts in respect of the propagating material of the protected variety shall require the authorization of the breeder:
(i) production or reproduction (multiplication),
(ii) conditioning for the purpose of propagation,
(iii)offering for sale,
(iv)selling or other marketing,
(v) exporting,
(vi)importing,
(vii)stocking for any of the purposes mentioned in (i) to (vi), above.
(b)The breeder may make his authorization subject to conditions and limitations.
(2)[Acts in respect of the harvested material] Subject to Article 15 and Article 16, the acts referred to in items paragraph (1)(a)(i) to paragraph (1)(a)(vii) in respect of harvested material, including entire plants and parts of plants, obtained through the unauthorized use of propagating material of the protected variety shall require the authorization of the breeder, unless the breeder has had reasonable opportunity to exercise his right in relation to the said propagating material.
(3)[Acts in respect of certain products] Each Contracting Party may provide that, subject to Article 15 and Article 16, the acts referred to in items paragraph (1)(a)(i) to paragraph (1)(a)(vii) in respect of products made directly from harvested material of the protected variety falling within the provisions of paragraph (2) through the unauthorized use of the said harvested material shall require the authorization of the breeder, unless the breeder has had reasonable opportunity to exercise his right in relation to the said harvested material.
(4)[Possible additional acts] Each Contracting Party may provide that, subject to Article 15 and Article 16, acts other than those referred to in items paragraph (1)(a)(i) to paragraph (1)(a)(vii) shall also require the authorization of the breeder.
(5)[Essentially derived and certain other varieties]
(a)The provisions of paragraph (1) to paragraph (4) shall also apply in relation to
(i)varieties which are essentially derived from the protected variety, where the protected variety is not itself an essentially derived variety,
(ii)varieties which are not clearly distinguishable in accordance with Article 7 from the protected variety and
(iii)varieties whose production requires the repeated use of the protected variety.
(b)For the purposes of subparagraph (a)(i), a variety shall be deemed to be essentially derived from another variety ("the initial variety") when
(i)it is predominantly derived from the initial variety, or from a variety that is itself predominantly derived from the initial variety, while retaining the expression of the essential characteristics that result from the genotype or combination of genotypes of the initial variety,
(ii)it is clearly distinguishable from the initial variety and
(iii)except for the differences which result from the act of derivation, it conforms to the initial variety in the expression of the essential characteristics that result from the genotype or combination of genotypes of the initial variety.
(c)Essentially derived varieties may be obtained for example by the selection of a natural or induced mutant, or of a somaclonal variant, the selection of a variant individual from plants of the initial variety, backcrossing, or transformation by genetic engineering.
Exceptions to the Breeder's Right
(1)[Compulsory exceptions] The breeder's right shall not extend to
(i)acts done privately and for non-commercial purposes,
(ii)acts done for experimental purposes and
(iii)acts done for the purpose of breeding other varieties, and, except where the provisions of Article 14(5) apply, acts referred to in Article 14(1) to Article 14(4) in respect of such other varieties.
(2)[Optional exception] Notwithstanding Article 14, each Contracting Party may, within reasonable limits and subject to the safeguarding of the legitimate interests of the breeder, restrict the breeder's right in relation to any variety in order to permit farmers to use for propagating purposes, on their own holdings, the product of the harvest which they have obtained by planting, on their own holdings, the protected variety or a variety covered by Article 14(5)(a)(i) or Article 14(5)(a)(ii).
Exhaustion of the Breeder's Right
(1)[Exhaustion of right] The breeder's right shall not extend to acts concerning any material of the protected variety, or of a variety covered by the provisions of Article 14(5), which has been sold or otherwise marketed by the breeder or with his consent in the territory of the Contracting Party concerned, or any material derived from the said material, unless such acts
(i)involve further propagation of the variety in question or
(ii)involve an export of material of the variety, which enables the propagation of the variety, into a country which does not protect varieties of the plant genus or species to which the variety belongs, except where the exported material is for final consumption purposes.
(2)[Meaning of "material"] For the purposes of paragraph (1), "material" means, in relation to a variety,
(i)propagating material of any kind,
(ii)harvested material, including entire plants and parts of plants, and
(iii)any product made directly from the harvested material.
Restrictions on the Exercise of the Breeder's Right
(1)[Public interest] Except where expressly provided in this Convention, no Contracting Party may restrict the free exercise of a breeder's right for reasons other than of public interest.
(2)[Equitable remuneration] When any such restriction has the effect of authorizing a third party to perform any act for which the breeder's authorization is required, the Contracting Party concerned shall take all measures necessary to ensure that the breeder receives equitable remuneration.
Article 18 Measures Regulating Commerce
The breeder's right shall be independent of any measure taken by a Contracting Party to regulate within its territory the production, certification and marketing of material of varieties or the importing or exporting of such material. In any case, such measures shall not affect the application of the provisions of this Convention.
Duration of the Breeder's Right
(1)[Period of protection] The breeder's right shall be granted for a fixed period.
(2)[Minimum period] The said period shall not be shorter than 20 years from the date of the grant of the breeder's right. For trees and vines, the said period shall not be shorter than 25 years from the said date.
VARIETY DENOMINATION
(1)[Designation of varieties by denominations; use of the denomination]
(a)The variety shall be designated by a denomination which will be its generic designation.
(b)Each Contracting Party shall ensure that, subject to paragraph (4), no rights in the designation registered as the denomination of the variety shall hamper the free use of the denomination in connection with the variety, even after the expiration of the breeder's right.
(2)[Characteristics of the denomination] The denomination must enable the variety to be identified. It may not consist solely of figures except where this is an established practice for designating varieties. It must not be liable to mislead or to cause confusion concerning the characteristics, value or identity of the variety or the identity of the breeder. In particular, it must be different from every denomination which designates, in the territory of any Contracting Party, an existing variety of the same plant species or of a closely related species.
(3)[Registration of the denomination] The denomination of the variety shall be submitted by the breeder to the authority. If it is found that the denomination does not satisfy the requirements of paragraph (2), the authority shall refuse to register it and shall require the breeder to propose another denomination within a prescribed period. The denomination shall be registered by the authority at the same time as the breeder's right is granted.
(4)[Prior rights of third persons] Prior rights of third persons shall not be affected. If, by reason of a prior right, the use of the denomination of a variety is forbidden to a person who, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (7), is obliged to use it, the authority shall require the breeder to submit another denomination for the variety.
(5)[Same denomination in all Contracting Parties] A variety must be submitted to all Contracting Parties under the same denomination. The authority of each Contracting Party shall register the denomination so submitted, unless it considers the denomination unsuitable within its territory. In the latter case, it shall require the breeder to submit another denomination.
(6)[Information among the authorities of Contracting Parties] The authority of a Contracting Party shall ensure that the authorities of all the other Contracting Parties are informed of matters concerning variety denominations, in particular the submission, registration and cancellation of denominations. Any authority may address its observations, if any, on the registration of a denomination to the authority which communicated that denomination.
(7)[Obligation to use the denomination] Any person who, within the territory of one of the Contracting Parties, offers for sale or markets propagating material of a variety protected within the said territory shall be obliged to use the denomination of that variety, even after the expiration of the breeder's right in that variety, except where, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (4), prior rights prevent such use.
(8)[Indications used in association with denominations] When a variety is offered for sale or marketed, it shall be permitted to associate a trademark, trade name or other similar indication with a registered variety denomination. If such an indication is so associated, the denomination must nevertheless be easily recognizable.
NULLITY AND CANCELLATION OF THE BREEDER'S RIGHT
Nullity of the Breeder's Right
(1)[Reasons of nullity] Each Contracting Party shall declare a breeder's right granted by it null and void when it is established
(i)that the conditions laid down in Article 6 or Article 7 were not complied with at the time of the grant of the breeder's right,
(ii) that, where the grant of the breeder's right has been essentially based upon information and documents furnished by the breeder, the conditions laid down in Article 8 or Article 9 were not complied with at the time of the grant of the breeder's right, or
(iii)that the breeder's right has been granted to a person who is not entitled to it, unless it is transferred to the person who is so entitled.
(2)[Exclusion of other reasons] No breeder's right shall be declared null and void for reasons other than those referred to in paragraph (1).
Cancellation of the Breeder's Right
(1)[Reasons for cancellation]
(a)Each Contracting Party may cancel a breeder's right granted by it if it is established that the conditions laid down in Article 8 or Article 9 are no longer fulfilled.
(b)Furthermore, each Contracting Party may cancel a breeder's right granted by it if, after being requested to do so and within a prescribed period,
(i)the breeder does not provide the authority with the information, documents or material deemed necessary for verifying the maintenance of the variety,
(ii)the breeder fails to pay such fees as may be payable to keep his right in force, or
(iii)the breeder does not propose, where the denomination of the variety is cancelled after the grant of the right, another suitable denomination.
(2)[Exclusion of other reasons] No breeder's right shall be cancelled for reasons other than those referred to in paragraph (1).
The Contracting Parties shall be members of the Union.
Legal Status and Seat
(1)[Legal personality] The Union has legal personality.
(2)[Legal capacity] The Union enjoys on the territory of each Contracting Party, in conformity with the laws applicable in the said territory, such legal capacity as may be necessary for the fulfillment of the objectives of the Union and for the exercise of its functions.
(3)[Seat] The seat of the Union and its permanent organs are at Geneva.
(4)[Headquarters agreement] The Union has a headquarters agreement with the Swiss Confederation.
The permanent organs of the Union are the Council and the Office of the Union.
(1)[Composition] The Council shall consist of the representatives of the members of the Union. Each member of the Union shall appoint one representative to the Council and one alternate. Representatives or alternates may be accompanied by assistants or advisers.
(2)[Officers] The Council shall elect a President and a first Vice-President from among its members. It may elect other Vice-Presidents. The first Vice-President shall take the place of the President if the latter is unable to officiate. The President shall hold office for three years.
(3)[Sessions] The Council shall meet upon convocation by its President. An ordinary session of the Council shall be held annually. In addition, the President may convene the Council at his discretion; he shall convene it, within a period of three months, if one-third of the members of the Union so request.
(4)[Observers] States not members of the Union may be invited as observers to meetings of the Council. Other observers, as well as experts, may also be invited to such meetings.
(5)[Tasks] The tasks of the Council shall be to:
(i)study appropriate measures to safeguard the interests and to encourage the development of the Union;
(ii)establish its rules of procedure;
(iii)appoint the Secretary-General and, if it finds it necessary, a Vice Secretary-General and determine the terms of appointment of each;
(iv)examine an annual report on the activities of the Union and lay down the programme for its future work;
(v)give to the Secretary-General all necessary directions for the accomplishment of the tasks of the Union;
(vi)establish the administrative and financial regulations of the Union;
(vii)examine and approve the budget of the Union and fix the contribution of each member of the Union;
(viii)examine and approve the accounts presented by the Secretary-General;
(ix)fix the date and place of the conferences referred to in Article 38 and take the measures necessary for their preparation; and
(x) in general, take all necessary decisions to ensure the efficient functioning of the Union.
(6) [Votes]
(a)Each member of the Union that is a State shall have one vote in the Council.
(b)Any Contracting Party that is an intergovernmental organization may, in matters within its competence, exercise the rights to vote of its member States that are members of the Union. Such an intergovernmental organization shall not exercise the rights to vote of its member States if its member States exercise their right to vote, and vice versa.
(7)[Majorities] Any decision of the Council shall require a simple majority of the votes cast, provided that any decision of the Council under paragraph (5)(ii), paragraph (5)(vi) and paragraph (5)(vii) and under Article 28(3), Article 29(5)(b) and Article 38(1) shall require three-fourths of the votes cast. Abstentions shall not be considered as votes.
The Office of the Union
(1)[Tasks and direction of the Office] The Office of the Union shall carry out all the duties and tasks entrusted to it by the Council. It shall be under the direction of the Secretary-General.
(2)[Duties of the Secretary-General] The Secretary-General shall be responsible to the Council; he shall be responsible for carrying out the decisions of the Council. He shall submit the budget of the Union for the approval of the Council and shall be responsible for its implementation. He shall make reports to the Council on his administration and the activities and financial position of the Union.
(3) [Staff] Subject to the provisions of Article 26(5)(iii), the conditions of appointment and employment of the staff necessary for the efficient performance of the tasks of the Office of the Union shall be fixed in the administrative and financial regulations.
(1)[Languages of the Office] The English, French, German and Spanish languages shall be used by the Office of the Union in carrying out its duties.
(2)[Languages in certain meetings] Meetings of the Council and of revision conferences shall be held in the four languages.
(3)[Further languages] The Council may decide that further languages shall be used.
(1)[Income] The expenses of the Union shall be met from
(i)the annual contributions of the States members of the Union,
(ii)payments received for services rendered,
(iii)miscellaneous receipts.
(2)[Contributions: units]
(a)The share of each State member of the Union in the total amount of the annual contributions shall be determined by reference to the total expenditure to be met from the contributions of the States members of the Union and to the number of contribution units applicable to it under paragraph (3). The said share shall be computed according to paragraph (4).
(b)The number of contribution units shall be expressed in whole numbers or fractions thereof, provided that no fraction shall be smaller than one-fifth.
(3)[Contributions: share of each member]
(a)The number of contribution units applicable to any member of the Union which is party to the Act of 1961/1972 or the Act of 1978 on the date on which it becomes bound by this Convention shall be the same as the number applicable to it immediately before the said date.
(b)Any other State member of the Union shall, on joining the Union, indicate, in a declaration addressed to the Secretary-General, the number of contribution units applicable to it.
(c)Any State member of the Union may, at any time, indicate, in a declaration addressed to the Secretary-General, a number of contribution units different from the number applicable to it under subparagraph (a) or subparagraph (b). Such declaration, if made during the first six months of a calendar year, shall take effect from the beginning of the subsequent calendar year; otherwise, it shall take effect from the beginning of the second calendar year which follows the year in which the declaration was made.
(4)[Contributions: computation of shares]
(a)For each budgetary period, the amount corresponding to one contribution unit shall be obtained by dividing the total amount of the expenditure to be met in that period from the contributions of the States members of the Union by the total number of units applicable to those States members of the Union.
(b)The amount of the contribution of each State member of the Union shall be obtained by multiplying the amount corresponding to one contribution unit by the number of contribution units applicable to that State member of the Union.
(5)[Arrears in contributions]
(a)A State member of the Union which is in arrears in the payment of its contributions may not, subject to subparagraph (b), exercise its right to vote in the Council if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contribution due from it for the preceding full year. The suspension of the right to vote shall not relieve such State member of the Union of its obligations under this Convention and shall not deprive it of any other rights thereunder.
(b)The Council may allow the said State member of the Union to continue to exercise its right to vote if, and as long as, the Council is satisfied that the delay in payment is due to exceptional and unavoidable circumstances.
(6)[Auditing of the accounts] The auditing of the accounts of the Union shall be effected by a State member of the Union as provided in the administrative and financial regulations. Such State member of the Union shall be designated, with its agreeement, by the Council.
(7)[Contributions of intergovernmental organizations] Any Contracting Party which is an intergovernmental organization shall not be obliged to pay contributions. If, nevertheless, it chooses to pay contributions, the provisions of paragraph (1) to paragraph (4) shall be applied accordingly.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION; OTHER AGREEMENTS
Implementation of the Convention
(1)[Measures of implementation] Each Contracting Party shall adopt all measures necessary for the implementation of this Convention; in particular, it shall:
(i)provide for appropriate legal remedies for the effective enforcement of breeders' rights;
(ii)maintain an authority entrusted with the task of granting breeders' rights or entrust the said task to an authority maintained by another Contracting Party;
(iii)ensure that the public is informed through the regular publication of information concerning
–applications for and grants of breeders' rights, and
–proposed and approved denominations.
(2)[Conformity of laws] It shall be understood that, on depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, as the case may be, each State or intergovernmental organization must be in a position, under its laws, to give effect to the provisions of this Convention.
Relations Between Contracting Parties and States Bound by Earlier Acts
(1)[Relations between States bound by this Convention] Between States members of the Union which are bound both by this Convention and any earlier Act of the Convention, only this Convention shall apply.
(2)[Possible relations with States not bound by this Convention] Any State member of the Union not bound by this Convention may declare, in a notification addressed to the Secretary-General, that, in its relations with each member of the Union bound only by this Convention, it will apply the latest Act by which it is bound. As from the expiration of one month after the date of such notification and until the State member of the Union making the declaration becomes bound by this Convention, the said member of the Union shall apply the latest Act by which it is bound in its relations with each of the members of the Union bound only by this Convention, whereas the latter shall apply this Convention in respect of the former.
Special Agreements
Members of the Union reserve the right to conclude among themselves special agreements for the protection of varieties, insofar as such agreements do not contravene the provisions of this Convention.
This Convention shall be open for signature by any State which is a member of the Union at the date of its adoption. It shall remain open for signature until March 31, 1992.
Ratification, Acceptance or Approval; Accession
(1)[States and certain intergovernmental organizations]
(a)Any State may, as provided in this Article, become party to this Convention.
(b)Any intergovernmental organization may, as provided in this Article, become party to this Convention if it
(i)has competence in respect of matters governed by this Convention,
(ii)has its own legislation providing for the grant and protection of breeders' rights binding on all its member States and
(iii)has been duly authorized, in accordance with its internal procedures, to accede to this Convention.
(2)[Instrument of adherence] Any State which has signed this Convention shall become party to this Convention by depositing an instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval of this Convention. Any State which has not signed this Convention and any intergovernmental organization shall become party to this Convention by depositing an instrument of accession to this Convention. Instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General.
(3)[Advice of the Council] Any State which is not a member of the Union and any intergovernmental organization shall, before depositing its instrument of accession, ask the Council to advise it in respect of the conformity of its laws with the provisions of this Convention. If the decision embodying the advice is positive, the instrument of accession may be deposited.
(1)[Principle] Subject to paragraph (2), no reservations to this Convention are permitted.
(2)[Possible exception]
(a)Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 3(1), any State which, at the time of becoming party to this Convention, is a party to the Act of 1978 and which, as far as varieties reproduced asexually are concerned, provides for protection by an industrial property title other than a breeder's right shall have the right to continue to do so without applying this Convention to those varieties.
(b)Any State making use of the said right shall, at the time of depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, as the case may be, notify the Secretary-General accordingly. The same State may, at any time, withdraw the said notification.
Communications Concerning Legislation and the Genera and Species Protected; Information to be Published
(1)[Initial notification] When depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval of or accession to this Convention, as the case may be, any State or intergovernmental organization shall notify the Secretary-General of
(i)its legislation governing breeder's rights and
(ii)the list of plant genera and species to which, on the date on which it will become bound by this Convention, it will apply the provisions of this Convention.
(2)[Notification of changes] Each Contracting Party shall promptly notify the Secretary-General of
(i)any changes in its legislation governing breeders' rights and
(ii)any extension of the application of this Convention to additional plant genera and species.
(3)[Publication of the information] The Secretary-General shall, on the basis of communications received from each Contracting Party concerned, publish information on
(i)the legislation governing breeders' rights and any changes in that legislation, and
(ii)the list of plant genera and species referred to in paragraph (1)(ii) and any extension referred to in paragraph (2)(ii).
Entry into Force; Closing of Earlier Acts
(1)[Initial entry into force] This Convention shall enter into force one month after five States have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, as the case may be, provided that at least three of the said instruments have been deposited by States party to the Act of 1961/1972 or the Act of 1978.
(2)[Subsequent entry into force] Any State not covered by paragraph (1) or any intergovernmental organization shall become bound by this Convention one month after the date on which it has deposited its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, as the case may be.
(3)[Closing of the 1978 Act] No instrument of accession to the Act of 1978 may be deposited after the entry into force of this Convention according to paragraph (1), except that any State that, in conformity with the established practice of the General Assembly of the United Nations, is regarded as a developing country may deposit such an instrument until December 31, 1995, and that any other State may deposit such an instrument until December 31, 1993, even if this Convention enters into force before that date.
Revision of the Convention
(1)[Conference] This Convention may be revised by a conference of the members of the Union. The convocation of such conference shall be decided by the Council.
(2)[Quorum and majority] The proceedings of a conference shall be effective only if at least half of the States members of the Union are represented at it. A majority of three-quarters of the States members of the Union present and voting at the conference shall be required for the adoption of any revision.
(1)[Notifications] Any Contracting Party may denounce this Convention by notification addressed to the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General shall promptly notify all members of the Union of the receipt of that notification.
(2)[Earlier Acts] Notification of the denunciation of this Convention shall be deemed also to constitute notification of the denunciation of any earlier Act by which the Contracting Party denouncing this Convention is bound.
(3)[Effective date] The denunciation shall take effect at the end of the calendar year following the year in which the notification was received by the Secretary-General.
(4)[Acquired rights] The denunciation shall not affect any rights acquired in a variety by reason of this Convention or any earlier Act prior to the date on which the denunciation becomes effective.
Preservation of Existing Rights
This Convention shall not limit existing breeders' rights under the laws of Contracting Parties or by reason of any earlier Act or any agreement other than this Convention concluded between members of the Union.
Original and Official Texts of the Convention
(1)[Original] This Convention shall be signed in a single original in the English, French and German languages, the French text prevailing in case of any discrepancy among the various texts. The original shall be deposited with the Secretary-General.
(2)[Official texts] The Secretary-General shall, after consultation with the interested Governments, establish official texts of this Convention in the Arabic, Dutch, Italian, Japanese and Spanish languages and such other languages as the Council may designate.
Depositary Functions
(1)[Transmittal of copies] The Secretary-General shall transmit certified copies of this Convention to all States and intergovernmental organizations which were represented in the Diplomatic Conference that adopted this Convention and, on request, to any other State or intergovernmental organization.
(2)[Registration] The Secretary-General shall register this Convention with the Secretariat of the United Nations.
Resolution on Article 14(5)
The Diplomatic Conference for the Revision of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants held from March 4 to 19, 1991, requests the Secretary-General of UPOV to start work immediately after the Conference on the establishment of draft standard guidelines, for adoption by the Council of UPOV, on essentially derived varieties.
Recommendation Relating to Article 15(2)
The Diplomatic Conference recommends that the provisions laid down in Article 15(2) of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants of December 2, 1961, as Revised at Geneva on November 10, 1972, on October 23, 1978, and on March 19, 1991, should not be read so as to be intended to open the possibility of extending the practice commonly called "farmer's privilege" to sectors of agricultural or horticultural production in which such a privilege is not a common practice on the territory of the Contracting Party concerned.
Common Statement Relating to Article 34
The Diplomatic Conference noted and accepted a declaration by the Delegation of Denmark and a declaration by the Delegation of the Netherlands according to which the Convention adopted by the Diplomatic Conference will not, upon its ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by Denmark or the Netherlands, be automatically applicable, in the case of Denmark, in Greenland and the Faroe Islands and, in the case of the Netherlands, in Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. The said Convention will only apply in the said territories if and when Denmark or the Netherlands, as the case may be, expressly so notifies the Secretary-General.
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