There are several international IP agreements that are useful in protecting your IP. Below is a brief summary of a few of them:
Paris Convention (Foreign filing priority)
After filing your IP in your home country, you can file the same IP in other countries and benefit from the filing date of the earlier home application (e.g. Canada). To claim priority, for Trademarks and Designs you need to file foreign applications within 6 months of the home trademark or design application and for Patents you need to file foreign applications with 12 months of the home patent application. This post provides more info on priority claims in relation to trademarks.
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
PCT provides a international patent filing procedure where you file a PCT patent application and for most countries you have 30 months from the filing date (or priority date) of the PCT application to decide which countries you wish to file patent applications in. Note the PCT application never issues as a patent.
Madrid Protocol (Trademarks)
A simplified international filing procedure for trademarks. Need to have a home country trademark application or registration to base your Madrid application on. The scope of protection of the international registration will be based on which countries you designate and also based on each of those countries review and assessment of your application.
Hague Agreement (Industrial Designs)
A simplified international filing procedure for industrial designs. The scope of protection of the international registration will be based on which countries you designate and also based on each of those countries review and assessment of your application.
Berne Convention (Copyright)
After copyright is established in a home country, the copyright protection will extend to all 181 member countries. Protection is automatic, no registration required.
Contact Sander Law to discuss protecting and registering your Intellectual Property!
The above content is for informational purposes only and is not legal or professional advice.