Governance
Cabinet Approves Proposal to Align with Global Trademark System
- 14 Mar 2019
- 2 min read
Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for the accession of India to:
- The Nice Agreement on the International classification of goods and services for the purposes of registration of trademarks.
- The Vienna Agreement for setting up an International classification of the figurative elements of trademarks.
- The Locarno Agreement for establishing an International classification for industrial designs.
- All three agreements are administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Benefits of the Accession
- Accession to the Nice, Vienna and Locarno Agreements will help the Intellectual Property (IP) Office in India to harmonize the classification systems for examination of trademark and design applications, in line with the classification systems, followed globally.
- It would give an opportunity to include Indian designs, figurative elements, and goods in the international classification systems.
- The accession is expected to instill confidence in foreign investors in relation to the protection of IPs in India.
- The accession would also facilitate in exercising rights in decision-making processes regarding review and revision of the classifications under the agreement.
World Intellectual Property Organization.
- WIPO is one of the oldest specialized agencies of the United Nations.
- WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world".
- WIPO currently administers 26 international treaties.
- It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Every year World Intellectual Property Day is being celebrated on 26th April.
Intellectual Property
- Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights, patents, and trademarks.
- It also includes other types of rights, such as trade secrets, publicity rights, moral rights, and rights against unfair competition.
