The basis of international economic integration
is that most members of the international community have shared
substantive standards to ensure that each of its member's domestic
laws and policies related to them are fair, non-discriminatory,
and transparent. This is very important for the establishment of
multilateral agreements to encourage exchange, trade, and some level
of international technology transfer and a fair investment framework.
- The Berne Convention (BC) and the Universal
Copyright Convention (UCC) are two principal international conventions
protecting copyright. The Berne Convention Implementation Act
of 1988 brings the United States, as of March 1, 1989, into
the Convention of Literary and Artistic Works, a group of countries
that recognizes international copyright protection, commonly
known as the Berne Union or the Berne Convention. At the present
time, membership in the BC has doubled from 74 countries in
1984 to 149 in 2002). Each member nation of the Berne Convention
is required to apply its own copyright laws on works from other
member states, and to include certain requirements of the convention
in its laws. In joining Berne, the US Congress adopted a "minimalist"
approach that keeps the old copyright laws intact as far as
was deemed possible.
- The Universal Copyright Convention (UCC),
adopted at Geneva in 1952 was developed by United Nations Educatioanl,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an alternative
to BC for those states which disagreed with aspects of BC, but
still wished to participate in some form of multilateral copyright
protection.
- The World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) is an international organization dedicated to promoting
the use and protection of works of the human spirit. These works
- intellectual property - has become significant nowadays as
integration of world's economy. Through its work, WIPO plays
an important role in providing guidance and view for nations
regarding IP issues.
- The Paris Convention for the Protection
of Industrial Property (PC) was first held in 1883 to adopt
a treaty providing the foundation for international patent protection.
As of January 1993, 108 countries were members of it. The Convention
applies broadly and includes all forms of intellectual property.
Its membership is open to all countries. The treaty signifies
two important provisions: (1) each member country guarantees
citizens of other member countries the same rights as its own
citizens, and (2) the right of priority ("priority date") is
recognized for subsequent filing in the member countries within
a certain period (12 months for patents). Thus, if someone makes
his application in a member country, other countries will honor
that first filing date. Thus, an inventor wishing protection
in multiple countries need not file all applications at the
same time, but has 12 months from the first application to decide
on subsequent filings.
- The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS), signed in 1994, incorporates basic
standards of IP protection from the PC and BC. TRIPS includes
provisions protecting a broad spectrum of IP rights, including
patents, copyrights, trademarks, geographical indications, and
industrial designs. TRIPS requires all WTO members to protect
IP through compliance with the PC, as well as other industrial
property and intellectual property related agreement.
