PARIS CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY,1883.
July 7, 1884
Entry into force
PARIS CONVENTION 1883
Date of Text: March 20, 1883
INTRODUCTION
French Convention de Paris pour la protection de la
propriété industrielle (1883) .The Paris Convention
originated from the first International Patent Congress,
which took place in Vienna in 1873. On March 20,1883
the Paris union was concluded and signed by 11 in Paris
France, states with varying degrees of Industrial
development and entered in to force in 1884. The Paris
Convention is administered by the
World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO), based in Geneva, Switzerland.
COMPOSITION: The Paris Union, established by the Convention,
has an Assembly and an Executive Committee. Every State that is a
member of the Union and has adhered to at least the
administrative and final provisions of the Stockholm Act (1967) is a
member of the Assembly.
The members of the Executive Committee are elected from among
the members of the Union, except for Switzerland, which is a
member ex officio.
The establishment of the biennial program and budget of the
WIPO Secretariat – as far as the Paris Union is concerned – is the
task of its Assembly.
The Paris Convention, concluded in 1883, was revised at Brussels in
1900, at Washington in 1911, at The Hague in 1925, at London in
1934, at Lisbon in 1958 and at Stockholm in 1967, and was amended
in 1979.
The Convention is open to all States. Instruments of ratification or
accession must be deposited with the Director General of WIPO.
Adoption and applicability
The Paris Convention, adopted in 1883, applies to industrial property in
the widest sense, including patents, trademarks, industrial designs, utility
models, service marks, trade names, geographical indications and the
repression of unfair competition.
This international agreement was the first major step taken to help creators
ensure that their intellectual works were protected in other countries.
Paris Convention is the 1st International Legal instrument came into
existence after detailed discussion in response to the innovation and
manufacturers who were looking for the priority protection of their
Intellectual property in the foreign countries.
HISTORY
History of the Convention The impetus of the Paris Convention appears to
have been two-fold:
to avoid the unwanted loss of eligibility for patent protection through
publication of patent applications and participation in international
exhibitions in advance of filing national patent applications;
and a desire that the diverse patent laws of nations be harmonized to some
degree.
Prior to the Convention, those wanting protection for inventions in multiple
countries needed to file patent applications in all such countries
simultaneously, and needed to do so prior to any publication or exhibition of
the invention at a trade fair, in order to avoid the unintentional loss of
eligibility of patent protection in one or more of the countries.
The challenge then facing inventors caused many who had been invited to the
Austria-Hungary international exhibition of inventions held in Vienna in
1873 to be unwilling to exhibit their inventions, leading to the enactment of a
special Austrian law the secured temporary protection to exhibitors and to the
Congress of Vienna for Patent Reform, convened that same year.\
The Paris Convention as revised will enter into force, with
respect to the Republic of India, on December 7, 1998. On that
date, the Republic of India will become a member of the
International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property
("Paris Union"), founded by the Paris Convention
As of 21 April 2022, the convention has 179
contracting member countries, which makes it one
of the most widely adopted treaties worldwide.
REVISIONS
The Treaty was revised at Brussels, Belgium, on 14
December 1900,
Washington, United States, on 2 June 1911,
The Hague, Netherlands, on 6 November 1925,
London, United Kingdom, on 2 June 1934,
Lisbon, Portugal, on 31 October 1958,
Stockholm, Sweden, on 14 July 1967,
And was amended on 28 September 1979.
OBJECTIVES
Its objectives were to secure legal protection for
industrial property and to encourage uniformity of
law .Since Paris convention for the first time
ensured minimum standard of protection to
intellectual property obligating the members to
adopt in accordance with its constitution.
It achieved these goals by providing a truly
multilateral treaty, with liberal rules of accession
and an administrative structure that permitted
further organizational development.
It largely superseded the chaotic system of bilateral
treaties.
PRINCIPLES-the substantive Provisions of the Paris convention is
divided under the following heads.
a) NATIONAL TREATMENT PRINCIPLE-Art 2.
Under the provisions on national treatment, the Convention
provides that, as regards the protection of industrial property,
each Contracting State must grant the same protection to
nationals of other Contracting States that it grants to its own
nationals. Nationals of non-Contracting States are also
entitled to national treatment under the Convention if they
are domiciled or have a real and effective industrial or
commercial establishment in a Contracting State.(Art 2(2))
Paris convention became iconic because this is the first
convention to provide national treatment principle
Principle No:2
b). RIGHT OF PRIORITY
The Convention provides for the right of priority in the case of
patents (and utility models where they exist), marks and
industrial designs. This right means that, on the basis of a regular
first application filed in one of the Contracting States, the
applicant may, within a certain period of time (12 months for
patents and utility models; 6 months for industrial designs and
marks), apply for protection in any of the other Contracting
States. These subsequent applications will be regarded as if they
had been filed on the same day as the first application.
The country where priority is claimed is known as Convention
filing or Convention application.
Common Rules:
(a) Patents/independence of patent grant: Independence of Patents: Patents granted in different
member countries for the same invention are independent of each other. The granting, refusal,
annulment or termination in one country cannot be on the basis of similar action in another country,
Treatment in each country depends on the procedure and action.
(b)Marks.
The Paris Convention does not regulate the conditions for the filing and registration of marks which
are determined in each Contracting State by domestic law. Rules of independence applies here, in the
sense that registration, invalidation, refusal in one member state is independent of the same in another
member state. Refusal or invalidation cannot happen on the ground that it is not done in the country
of origin. Marks should be protected in contracting states as well refusal can be made if it is devoid
of distinctive character, when it is contrary to the morality or public order, or when it is of such a
nature as to be liable to decieve the public. Where the law insist on the use of a registered mark,
cancellation of the mark cannot be done until after a reasonable period.
Protection of well-known Marks: Each contracting state must refuse registration and prohibit the use of
marks which constitute reproduction, imitation or translation, liable to cretae confusion, of a mark
considered by a competent authority of that state to be well known in that state being already the
mark of a person entitled to the benefits of the convention and used for identical or similar goods.
There can also be refusal to register and prohibition on certain marks without authorization which
consists of state armorial bearings, state emblems, official signs and hallmarks of the contracting
states.,flags,abbreviations of certain names , including names of inter governmental organizations,
(Communication has to be done through International Bureau of WIPO.
Collective marks needs protection.
Common Rules:contd…
(c) Industrial Designs
Industrial designs must be protected in each Contracting State,
and protection may not be forfeited on the ground that articles
incorporating the design are not manufactured in that State.
(d) Trade Names
Protection must be granted to trade names in each Contracting
State without there being an obligation to file or register the
names.
(e) Indications of Source
Measures must be taken by each Contracting State against direct
or indirect use of a false indication of the source of goods or the
identity of their producer, manufacturer or trader.
(f) Unfair competition.
Each Contracting State must provide for effective protection
against unfair competition.
COMPULSORY LICENSES:-The Paris convention establishes and provides the grant of compulsory licenses to prevent
the abuse which might result in the exclusive rights conferred by the patent. Certain limitations are barged upon
the COMPULSORY LICENSES which says if inventions fails to work for a period of 3 years from the date of filing and
3 yrs from the date of grant whichever is last ,expires under the ground of insufficient working.
PATENT PROTECTION RULES:-
Right to have inventors name in a patent.
Domestic laws restrict patents shall be invalidated.
No forfeiture of Patent.
Grace period for the payment of fees(6 months non
extendable).
Member nations will have right to allow for the
restoration of patents which lapse dur to non-payment
of fee.
Harmonised and applicant friendly procedures.\
If product is imported in the union patentee shall be
accorded with the same rights
ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORKS AND
FINAL CLAUSES
The Paris Union, established by the Convention, has an
Assembly and an Executive Committee. Every State that
is a member of the Union and has adhered to at least the
administrative and final provisions of the Stockholm Act
(1967) is a member of the Assembly. The members of the
Executive Committee are elected from among the
members of the Union, except for Switzerland, which is a
member ex officio. The establishment of the biennial
program and budget of the WIPO Secretariat – as far as
the Paris Union is concerned – is the task of its Assembly.
CONCLUSION
The Paris Convention applies to industrial property in the
widest sense, including patents, trademarks, industrial
designs, utility models (a kind of "small-scale patent"
provided for by the laws of some countries), service
marks, trade names (designations under which an
industrial or commercial activity is carried out),
geographical indications (indications of source and
appellations of origin) and the repression of unfair
competition.
