Our Global Trademark Guide has been prepared by DLA Piper’s team of trademark lawyers around the world to address some of the challenges faced by practitioners managing global brand protection. The Guide enables users to compare trademark practice and procedure around the world by selecting from the drop-down menu above the topics and jurisdictions of interest. If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact us here.

Compare Intellectual Property Treaties Around the World

Our global trademark team have created the maps below to help visualise the coverage of some of the key intellectual property treaties around the world.

The data underpinning these maps is accurate as of 28 June 2023 and was sourced from publicly available sources, including the WIPO. However, it is subject to change. Please contact your usual point of contact at DLA Piper if you have any queries regarding these maps.

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Acceded Not acceded

The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883), which established two key principles of international intellectual property protection, being:

  • national treatment: juristic and national persons who are either national or domiciled in a state party to the Convention shall, as regards the protection of industrial property, enjoy the advantages that their respective laws grant to nationals; and
  • priority right: a trademark applicant from one contracting state shall be able to use its first filing date in that state as the effective filing date in another contracting state, provided that the applicant files the subsequent application within 6 months from the first.
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Acceded Not acceded

The agreement which establishes the International (Nice) Classification of Goods and Services (1957), a system of classifying goods and services for the purposes of registering trademarks and service marks. There are 45 classes in total, 1–34 covering goods, and 35–45 covering services.

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Acceded Not acceded

A classification of the figurative elements of marks, established by the Vienna Agreement (1973). The  classification sets out 29 classes of elements, and in some countries, figurative elements must be specified in terms of the Vienna Classification.

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Acceded Not acceded

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, a major international agreement relating to standards of intellectual property protection. It is operated by the World Trade Organisation. TRIPS makes provision for minimum standards of protection, procedures for enforcement and remedies, and makes disputes regarding TRIPS obligations subject to WTO dispute settlement procedures.

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Acceded Not acceded

The Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (1891), which establishes an international system for trademark registration. It allows trademark owners to seek registration in any of the countries that have joined the Madrid Agreement by filing a single application, called an "International Registration".

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Acceded Not acceded

The Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement (1989). The Protocol establishes an independent but parallel system of international trademark registration, and made some changes from the older Madrid Agreement system, including providing a solution to the phenomenon of 'central attack'. See "Madrid Agreement" for further information.

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Acceded Not acceded

The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organisation (“WIPO”), one of the specialised agencies of the United Nations. The Convention currently has 188 contracting members worldwide.

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Acceded Not acceded

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which established several key principles of copyright law, including the notion that copyright subsists in a work upon creation of the work, as opposed to upon registration of the work, as well as principles relating to country of origin and fair use.

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Acceded Not acceded

The Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, which establishes common standards for procedural aspects of trademark registration and licensing.