Research and Course Guides: Intellectual Property Law: Treaties

Find Treaties in the CLICnet Catalog

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Intellectual Property Law Treaties

The United States is a party to several treaties and international agreements that are important to the study and practice of copyright and patent law.

These agreements establish basic minimum standards that member states must implement and could create additional or conflicting obligations.

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
The TRIPS Agreement is a minimum standards agreement, which allows Members to provide more extensive protection of intellectual property if they so wish.
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is an initiative by key trading partners to strengthen the international legal framework for effectively combating global proliferation of commercial-scale counterfeiting and piracy.
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, is the oldest international agreement in the field of copyright, first accepted in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886.
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is one of the first of the various multilateral treaties protecting intellectual property. It addresses patents, marks, unfair competition whether or not implicating marks, and the related industrial property of industrial designs, utility models, geographical indications, trade names, possibly trade secrets within the context of unfair competition, but not copyright.
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
The Patent Cooperation Treaty makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries by filing an “international” patent application.
Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
The system of international registration of marks is governed by two treaties, including the Madrid Agreement and the Protocol relating to that Agreement. The system makes it possible to protect a mark in a large number of countries by obtaining an international registration which has effect in each of the Contracting Parties that has been designated.