International regulation of intellectual property rights

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and works of art, as well as symbols, names, images, and designs that are used in commerce. Intellectual property is divided into two categories industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and copyright which includes literary and works of art such as novels, poems and plays films, musical works, works of art such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programmes. 1883 marked the birth of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the first major international treaty designed to help the people from one country obtain protection in other countries for their intellectual creations in the form of industrial property rights, known as: inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs. In 1886, copyright entered the international arena with the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. The aim of this Convention was to help nationals of its member States obtain international protection of their right to control, and receive payment for the use of their creative works such as: novels, short stories, poems plays; songs, operas, musicals, sonatas; and drawings, paintings sculptures, architectural works. The Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) was adopted in 1952 and formalised in 1955, as a complementary agreement to the Berne Convention. The UCC membership included the United States, and many developing countries that did not wish to comply with the Berne Convention, since they viewed its provisions as overly favourable to the developed world. Patent Cooperation Treaty, signed on June 19,1970, provides for the filing of a single international patent application which has the same effect as national applications filed in the designated countries. An applicant seeking protection may file one application and request protection in as many signatory states as needed. On November 6, 1925, the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs was adopted within the framework of the Paris Convention. Under the provisions of the Hague Agreement, any person entitled to effect an international deposit has the possibility of obtaining, by means of a single deposit protection for his industrial designs in a number of States with a minimum of formalities and of expense. The system of international registration of marks is governed by two treaties, the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, which dates from 1891, and the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement that was adopted in 1989. It entered into force on December 1, 1995, and came into operation on April 1, 1996. The reason for adopting the much more recent Protocol, following the original Madrid Agreement of 1891 (last amended at Stockholm in 1967), was the absence from the Madrid Union of some of the major countries in the trademark field, for example, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The Protocol is intended to make the Madrid system acceptable to more countries. The Rome Convention consists basically of the national treatment that a State grants under its domestic law to domestic performances, phonograms and broadcasts. Apart from the rights guaranteed by the Convention itself as constituting that minimum of protection, and subject to specific exceptions or reservations allowed for by the Convention, performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organisations to which the Convention applies, enjoy in Contracting States the same rights as those countries grant to their nationals. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an international organisation dedicated to promoting the use and protection of works of the human spirit. These works, intellectual property, are expanding the bounds of science and technology and enriching the world of the arts. Through its work, WIPO plays an important role in enhancing the quality and enjoyment of life, as well as creating real wealth for nations. In 1974, WIPO became a specialised agency of the United Nations system of organisations, with a mandate to administer intellectual property matters recognised by the member states of the UN. With headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, WIPO is one of the 16 specialised agencies of the United Nations system of organisations. It administers 21 international treaties dealing with different aspects of intellectual property protection. The Organisation counts 177 nations as member states. One of the successes of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations was the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS Agreement), which came into effect on 1 January 1995, and up to date it the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property. The TRIPS Agreement is a minimum standards agreement, which allows Members to provide more extensive protection of intellectual property if they wish so. Members are left free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of the Agreement within their own legal system and practice On January 1, 1996, an Agreement Between the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization entered into force. It provides for cooperation concerning the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement, such as notification of laws and regulations and legal-technical assistance and technical co-operation in favour of developing countries. In the 21st century intellectual property will play an increasingly important role at the international stage. Works of the mind - intellectual property such as inventions, designs, trademarks, books, music, and films, are now used and enjoyed on every continent on the earth. In the new millennium international protection of intellectual property rights faces many new challenges; one of the most urgent is the need for states to adapt to and benefit from rapid and wide-ranging technological change, particularly in the field of information technology and the Internet.