International treaties
Various international treaties regulate aspects within the patent system. They have determined a significant part of the content of the current Patents Act 1995.
| Treaty | Year of formation | Most important aspects |
| Paris Convention (implemented in the Patent Act 1995) | Paris 1883 |
- Principle of assimilation - Regulations for right of priority - Exhibition priority - Foundation of national agencies |
| WIPO Treaty | Stockholm 1967 |
Founding of World Intellectual Property Organization |
| Strasbourg Treaty(implemented in the Patent Act 1995) | Strasbourg1963 |
- Harmonisation of national patent acts - Substantive law |
| Strasbourg Agreement | 1971 | - International classification of patents |
| Community Patent Convention (has not yet entered into force) | Luxembourg 1975 |
- Introduction of community patent - Additional effect: harmonisation of national patent acts |
|
Cooperation Treaty (PCT) |
Washington 1970 |
- Regulation of international application procedure - Novelty search is carried out centrally |
|
European Patent Convention (EPC) |
Munich 1973/2000 |
- Regulations for the application and granting of European patents by the European Patent Office - Centralisation of the patenting process within Europe - additional effect: harmonization of national patent acts - Also for Member States outside of the EU (such as Turkey and Switzerland) - Radically amended in 2000 (entered into force on 13 December 2007) |
|
LondonAgreement re. EPC (Translations Protocol) (implemented in the Patent Act 1995) |
London 2000 |
- Requirements that can be placed upon the translation of European patents - In force since 1 May 2008 |
| Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of International Property Rights (TRIPS) | Marrakech 1994 |
- Requirements for (minimum) patent protection and enforcement of patent rights in contracting states - Harmonisation of national patent acts - Annex to WTO agreement |
| Directive for biotechnological inventions (implemented in the Patent Act 1995) | Brussels 1998 |
- Regulations for the patentability of biotechnological inventions - Harmonisation of national patent acts |
|
Regulation relating to the granting of supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) |
Brussels 1992/1996 |
- Regulation for additional protection of medicines and crop protection products |
|
Treaty of Budapest |
1977 | - International recognition of the deposit of micro-organisms for the purpose of the grant procedure |
| Enforcement guideline | Brussels 2004 |
- Enforcement of intellectual property rights - Harmonisation of national patent acts |
Published on: 04-04-2011|Changed on: 05-12-2011
