LibGuides: International Intellectual Property Research Guide: Treaties

International IP Law - Primary Sources

International IP Law consists of:

1. International Law - treaties, the law of multinational bodies, AND
2. The law of individual nations.

Major IP Treaties & Protocols

"Treaties can be referred to by a number of different names: international conventions, international agreements, covenants, final acts, charters, memorandums of understandings (MOUs), protocols, pacts, accords, and constitutions for international organizations. Usually these different names have no legal significance in international law (see next section for the difference in U.S. law)." International Legal Research Tutorial from Duke Law

Paris Convention (Patents, Trademarks, Industrial Designs))
"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. " Applied to trade secrets. Link is to WIPO.
TRIPS Agreement
Link is to World Trade Organisation
"TRIPS establishes minimum standards for the availability, scope, and use of seven forms of intellectual property: copyrights, trademarks, geographical indications, industrial designs, patents, layout designs for integrated circuits, and undisclosed information (trade secrets). It spells out permissible limitations and exceptions in order to balance the interests of intellectual property with interests in other areas, such as public health and economic development." Description from USPTO
The Berne Convention (Copyright)
Sets forth the minimum protection to be granted to authors and their copyrighted works. Implemented in the United States through the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988. Link is to WIPO.
Universal Copyright Convention as revised on 24 July 1971
via UNESCO. See . No favorable treatment to domestic authors, formal copyright notice must appear in all copies of the copyrighted work, minimum term of life of author plus 25 years.

European Patent Convention
The EPC consists of three integral texts: the Articles of the Convention (corresponds to Title 35 of the U.S. Code) , the Implementing Regulations (similar to Title 37 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations), and the Protocols (short guidance for the application of certain articles of the Convention). The EPC also includes the rules of procedure of the European Patent Office's boards of appeal and Enlarged Board of Appeal. (Link goes to European Patent Office's Website.)
The Hague Agreement (Industrial Design Registration)
Created the Hague System. Link is to WIPO
Patent Cooperation Treaty
"Under this WIPO-administered treaty, nationals or residents of a contracting state file a single patent application, called an "international" application, with their national patent office or with WIPO as a receiving office. This automatically lodges the application for patent protection in all contracting parties of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). " (description by USPTO). Link is to WIPO
WIPO's list of PTC Contracting States.
Strasbourg Convention (Patents) (1963)
Treaty signed by member states of the Council of Europe to harmonize patent law across Europe.
The Madrid Protocol (Trademark)
Created a centralized way (Madrid International Trademark System ) for trademark owners to obtain protection for their marks in multiple countries by filing one international application with the applicant’s office of origin. (link is to WIPO)
Trademark Law Treaty
"The aim of the Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) is to standardize and streamline national and regional trademark registration procedures." Link is to WIPO info page.

Also see USPTO list of International IP treaties.

Treaty Databases

Intellectual Property Treaties

WIPO Lex
WIPO Lex is a global database that provides free of charge access to legal information on intellectual property (IP) such as treaties administered by WIPO, other IP-related treaties, and laws and regulations of the Members States of WIPO, the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.
WIPO Administered Treaties

Treaty collections not specific to IP law:

United Nations Treaty Collection
Free on the U.N. website. More than 100,000 multilateral and bilateral treaties registered or recorded with the U.N. since 1946. Includes United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS)
HeinOnline World Treaty Library
United Nations Treaty Series (1946 to current) plus Older Treaties
United Nations Law Collection - HeinOnline
Includes United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS) but has other treaty publications.

Collections of treaties containing only treaties where the United States is a party:

U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library - HeinOnline
U.S. treaties and agreements currently in force, for those no longer in force, and for those that have not yet entered into force. Good source for older treaties and older Senate Documents. Senate documents sometimes indexed under date of original treaty, or some date other than the date of the actual document.
Congress.gov Treaty Documents
Information is available on Congress.gov for all treaties submitted to the Senate since the 94th Congress (1975-1976). Treaties submitted prior to the 94th Congress are included if they were pending in 1975. About Treaty Documents
The full text of treaty documents are not available on Congress.gov before 1995.

How to Research Treaties

Treaty Research Guide
From Vanderbilt University Law Library.