Members of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) yesterday adopted a new international treaty on trade marks that streamlines the administrative procedures for national and regional trade mark applications.
The treaty, to be known as the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (or the Singapore Treaty), updates the 1994 Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) and brings it in line with the technological developments of the past decade.
The TLT was designed to streamline and simplify, on a worldwide basis, the admin procedures relating to national and regional trade mark applications and the maintenance of trade mark registrations.
It obliged those who sought trade mark protection under the TLT to, as a first step, observe certain formalities to avoid rejection of their application and a consequent loss of rights. These formalities normally vary from one country to another but the TLT successfully introduced standard requirements to be followed in procedures before trade mark offices.
However, WIPO was concerned that the TLT was not keeping pace with developments in telecommunications. It also wished to create an institutional framework allowing the adaptation of certain administrative details regulated under the treaty.
Negotiations for an updated treaty have now been successfully concluded.
According to WIPO, the Singapore Treaty creates both a level playing field for all economic operators that invest in branded goods and a dynamic regulatory framework for brand rights. It creates an assembly of the contracting parties, establishing a built-in review mechanism for administrative details, and takes a new approach to securing investment in product differentiation.
Brands are no longer confined to stickers or labels on goods; today, the brand stands for the product’s identity, says WIPO. Creativity and investment goes into the development of brands, and it is vital for the industry to be able to secure that investment. According to WIPO, new rules applicable to all types of trade marks, as contained in the Singapore Treaty, will address those needs.
The Singapore Treaty also takes into account the advantages and potential of electronic communication facilities, while recognising the varying needs of both developing and developed nations.
During negotiations some developing and least developed states expressed concern about their ability to fully benefit from the Treaty. These discussions resulted in a firm commitment by industrialised countries to provide adequate technical assistance and other forms of support to strengthen the institutional capacity of those countries to enable them to take full advantage of the Treaty, says WIPO.
"The Singapore Treaty, as the first international treaty in the field of intellectual property in the new century, reaffirms the importance of trade marks, one of the major forms of intellectual property, in promoting domestic and international trade and in enhancing enterprise development and consumer confidence," said WIPO Director General, Dr. Kamil Idris.
Lee Curtis, a trade mark attorney with Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, said: "Although the Treaty will not radically alter the way in which trade marks are protected across the globe, it is pleasing to note that WIPO are concentrating on streamlining trade mark protection procedures, making them easier and cheaper, so that businesses across the globe can protect one of their most important assets, their good name."
A copy of the Treaty is not yet available.
