LibGuides: International Patent Law Research Guide: Primary Sources

International Patent Law - Primary Sources

International Patent Law consists of:

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

Treaties, Laws & Regulations Collection

Treaties and conventions include the Paris Convention (WIPO) and the Strasbourg Convention (Council of Europe), which deal with issues of substantive patent law, and the European Patent Convention (EPO) and the London Agreement(EPO), which deal with both substantive law and administrative procedures.

Global treaties such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty and Patent Law Treaty(WIPO) and the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement (World Trade Organization) also come into play.

Map shows the PCT countries in Europe. Full map and list of PCT countries (via WIPO).

Materials for Selected Individual Treaties

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. (via European Patent Office's Website.)
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.

Laws of Multinational Bodies

International Patent Offices and IGOs
See links to international patent offices and IGOs, such as the World Trade Organisation, European Patent Organisation, etc. to find laws promulgated by these bodies.

Treaties Collections

United Nations Law Collection - Treaties
via HeinOnline

International Legal Materials on Intellectual Property, 2021 Edition by Paul Goldstein; Marketa Trimble
Call Number: K1401.A35 G65 2021
Publication Date: 2021-06-14
This is the most up-to-date, complete, yet manageably-sized volume of international and regional documents and materials for a course in International Intellectual Property Law. This 2021 International Legal Materials supplement includes documents relevant to major international intellectual property law topics and can also be used for courses in international and comparative copyright law, patent law, and trademark law.

Patent Treaties - U.S. is a Party

The following list links to some important patent-related treaties to which the United States is a party. Citations marked "UST" cite to the volume and page number of United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST). Citations marked "TIAS" refer to the document number in the Treaties and Other International Acts Series.

Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure
--32 UST 1241
--TIAS 9768
--Adopted in 1977, the Budapest Treaty concerns a specific topic in the international patent process: microorganisms. All states party to the Treaty are obliged to recognize microorganisms deposited as a part of the patent procedure, irrespective of where the depository authority is located.
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Includes the treaty, acts, regulations, contracting parties, etc.
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
--Agreement Between the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization
--21 UST 1583
--TIAS 6923
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
--28 UST 7645
--TIAS 8733
--For associated Regulations, Administrative Instructions, or a PDF version of the treaty, see http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/texts/index.htm
Patent Law Treaty (PLT)
The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) was adopted in 2000 with the aim of harmonizing and streamlining formal procedures with respect to national and regional patent applications and patents and making such procedures more user friendly.
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Contains the text of the treaty, as well as its related regulations, agreed upon statements, contract parties, etc.
UPOV Lex: Plant Variety Protection Laws
The UPOV system of plant variety protection came into being with the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants by a Diplomatic Conference in Paris on December 2, 1961.
UPOV Lex contains the legislation of members of the Union that has been notified in accordance with the UPOV Convention, the UPOV Convention notifications concerning individual members of the Union (e.g. accessions, ratifications) and the text of the UPOV Convention and its Acts

Cases

Lexis and Westlaw contain some case law for other countries. See the Foreign Law tab of this guide for more sources for cases.

PCT Case Law Database
Cases from Canada, the EPO, India, Israel, the UK, and the US
Specialized Intellectual Property Courts Worldwide
from International Intellectual Property Institute.
Internet Sources for IP Case Law (from WIPO)
USCS - International Conventions
Case annotations of case interpreting selected treaties to which the U.S. is a party.
UNCTAD Case Law Database: Intellectual Property and Public Health
"Summaries of notable judgments adopted by national or regional judicial organs of the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The summaries have been developed with a view to support a better understanding of key intellectual property issues that relate to access to medicines."