INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY, INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION

Abstract

This chapter focuses on international protection of industrial property. The notion of protection of industrial property is explained by the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883. According to Art. 1(2) of that Convention, “the protection of industrial property has as its object, patents, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, trade names, indications of source or appellations of origin, and the repression of unfair competition.” Together with copyright, industrial property forms part of the broader field of intellectual property, comprising the creations of the human intellect. Copyright protects literary and artistic works. Both industrial property and copyright are within the competence of the same United Nations Specialized Agency, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The protection of industrial property comprises the protection of inventions, industrial designs, trademarks and service marks, trade names, and certain geographical designations. It also includes the repression of unfair competition.