Topics
Home 
Patent, trademark or design? Patents International treaties
Patent, trademark or design? Patents International treaties
International treaties
Various international treaties regulate aspects within the patent system. They have determined a significant part of the content of the current Patents Act 1995.| Treaty | Year of formation | Most important aspects |
| Paris Convention(implemented in the Patent Act 1995) | Paris 1883 | - Principle of assimilation - Regulations for right of priority - Exhibition priority - Foundation of national agencies |
| WIPO Treaty | Stockholm 1967 | - Founding of World Intellectual Property Organization |
| Strasbourg Treaty(implemented in the Patent Act 1995) | Strasbourg 1963 | - Harmonisation of national patent acts - Substantive law |
| Strasbourg Agreement | 1971 | - International classification of patents |
| Community Patent Convention (has not yet entered into force) | Luxembourg 1975 | - Introduction of community patent - Additional effect: harmonisation of national patent acts |
| Cooperation Treaty(PCT) | Washington 1970 | - Regulation of international application procedure - Novelty search is carried out centrally |
| European Patent Convention (EPC) | Munich 1973/2000 | - Regulations for the application and granting of European patents by the European Patent Office - Centralisation of the patenting process within Europe - additional effect: harmonization of national patent acts - Also for Member States outside of the EU (such as Turkey and Switzerland) - Radically amended in 2000 (entered into force on 13 December 2007) |
| London Agreement re. EPC (Translations Protocol)(implemented in the Patent Act 1995) | London 2000 | - Requirements that can be placed upon the translation of European patents - In force since 1 May 2008 |
| Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of International Property Rights (TRIPS) | Marrakech 1994 | - Requirements for (minimum) patent protection and enforcement of patent rights in contracting states - Harmonisation of national patent acts - Annex to WTO agreement |
| Directive for biotechnological inventions(implemented in the Patent Act 1995) | Brussels 1998 | - Regulations for the patentability of biotechnological inventions - Harmonisation of national patent acts |
| Regulation relating to the granting of supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) | Brussels 1992/1996 | - Regulation for additional protection of medicines and crop protection products |
| Treaty of Budapest |
1977 | - International recognition of the deposit of micro-organisms for the purpose of the grant procedure |
| Enforcement guideline(implemented in the Patent Act 1995) |
Brussels 2004 | - Enforcement of intellectual property rights - Harmonisation of national patent acts |
