International nature of trademark law (Major relevant articles)

Even though trademarks are regulated by each country independently, because of the fact that goods travel beyond country borderlines and bear trademarks, trademark law has international implications. The Paris Convention is the prime International Convention in the field of Intellectual Property Rights.

Paris Convention (relating to the protection of industrial property), is also known as Industrial Property Rights Protection Alliance Treaty.

This Convention was concluded in the year 1883 and its interpretation was supplemented in Madrid. It further underwent several amendments in 1900-Brussels; 1911-Washington, D.C.; 1925-The Hague; 1934-London; 1958-Lisbon and 1967-Stockholm.

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It was revised in 1979 to the form as we know it today. There are 151 member states as of January 15, 1999, demonstrating that most major countries in the world have joined the treaty. However, because the Paris Convention requires a super majority, it has a tendency to lag behind current developments.

The following is a list of the major relevant articles of the treaty:

(i) Member states protect the trademark rights and other industrial property rights of other member states;

(ii) Each member state must maintain the fundamental principle that citizens of other member states receive the same protection as its own citizens; and

(iii) Member states must recognize the assertion of priority rights. The articles that are particularly relevant to the trademark law include:

(i) Remedies for cases in which registered trademarks are not used, including sanctions;

(ii) The independent status of the trademark law;

(iii) Protection of well-known trademarks;

(iv) Adjustment regulations on the transfer of trademark rights;

(v) Regulations on trademarks registered in a foreign country;

(vi) Protection of service marks;

(vii) Regulations controlling applications for trademark registration made by an agent, among others, without permission of the applicant;

(viii) Removal of trademark registration limitations based on the disposition of the goods;

(ix) Protection of collective trademarks;

(x) Control of the importation of counterfeit goods;

(xi) Control of fraudulent indications of country origin

(xii) Prohibition of acts of unfair competition;

(xiii) Legal measures to prevent counterfeit goods and others; and

(xiv) Temporary protection of goods exhibited in international expos.

The Trademark Registration Treaty or “TRT,” concluded in the year 1973 under the auspice of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) [established by the WIPO Convention in 1967] is more up-to- date. This Treaty became effective in February 1980. The Trademark Law Treaty (“TLT”) of 1994, however, is even more current.