Madrid Protocol and Hague Agreement
MM2 Form
Application for international registration falling exclusively under the Madrid Protocol (MM2) 
International Brand Transformation Form for Regional Brands
Regulations/Taxes
Regulations relating to the international registration of trademarks
Taxes applicable to international trademarks at OAPI
Administrative instructions
Administrative instructions from Madrid
PCT Notification No. 216: Amendments to the Implementing Regulations The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presents his compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, in accordance with Article 68.4 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), done at Washington on June 19, 1970, as amended on September 28, 1979, February 3, 1984 and October 3, 2001, has the honour to transmit herewith certified copies, in French and English , of the amendments to the PCT Implementing Regulations, adopted on October 9, 2019, by the Assembly of the International Union for Patent Cooperation (PCT Union), at its fifty-first session (22nd Ordinary Session) held in Geneva from September 30 to October 9, 2019. These amendments shall enter into force on July 1, 2020. January 31, 2020 | ||
Amendments to the Regulations Implementing the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) |
The Paris Convention
The Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property was signed in Paris on March 20, 1883. It is the oldest convention administered by WIPO[1] in the field of industrial property.
It originally had eleven member countries, but today it is ratified by nearly two hundred countries. It sets out the fundamental principles[2] and governs the international protection of industrial property. Its text has undergone several amendments, the most recent of which took place in Stockholm on July 14, 1967.
The Berne Convention
Established on October 9, 1886 in Bern, and revised on numerous occasions, the last of which dates from 1971 in Paris, the Berne Convention of 1886 for the Protection of Works of Literary and Artistic Property is administered, like the Paris Convention, by WIPO.
This convention governs the author's rights to their work. It establishes the fundamental principles and regulates the international protection of literary and artistic property. It sets out the minimum standards for author protection that the contracting parties are obligated to incorporate into their domestic legislation.
The Berne Convention also lists, in a non-exhaustive manner, the works eligible for copyright protection[3]. Member States of the Union are obliged to protect the works thus listed by their national legislation, as well as those which, although not included in the list, are nevertheless considered to be creations of the mind falling within the category of literary and artistic works.
The TRIPS Agreement
Adopted on April 15, 1994, in Marrakech, this Agreement is the result of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations conducted within the framework of the GATT, which led to the creation of the World Trade Organization. All OAPI member states have acceded to the TRIPS Agreement.
The goal of the TRIPS Agreement is to harmonize intellectual property protection standards globally.
The TRIPS Agreement includes provisions for minimum standards of protection governing the various sectors of intellectual property (copyright and related rights, patents, trademarks, geographical indications, industrial designs, etc.).
Furthermore, the TRIPS Agreement establishes a general obligation for contracting states to provide, within their ordinary judicial systems, fair and expeditious procedures for enforcing intellectual property rights in the event of infringement. These procedures include prompt remedial measures designed both to prevent further infringement and to provide adequate compensation to the rights holder, with any final administrative decision being subject to review by a judicial authority.
This general obligation is accompanied by specific rules on:
- civil and administrative corrective procedures and measures;
- provisional measures;
- border measures;
- criminal proceedings.
[1] Acronym for the World Intellectual Property Organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
[2] This refers to the right of priority, the assimilation of the unionist to the national, the independence of the titles of protection, etc.
[3] According to Article 2 of the Berne Convention, " the term literary and artistic works includes all productions in the literary, scientific and artistic fields, whatever the mode or form of expression… ".
