The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has made significant headway in its attempt to update an international Treaty that streamlines the administrative procedures for national and regional trade mark applications.
A draft text has now been agreed by members of WIPO's Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications, and will form the basis for negotiations at a diplomatic conference, due to take place in March next year.The Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) was concluded in 1994 with a view to streamlining and simplifying, on a worldwide basis, the admin procedures relating to national and regional trade mark applications and the maintenance of trade mark registrations.The TLT currently has 33 member countries, including the UK, Germany, the US and Australia.Those who seek trade mark protection must, 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 has successfully introduced standard requirements to be followed in procedures before trade mark offices.However, WIPO says the TLT needs to be updated in order to keep pace with developments in telecommunications and to create an institutional framework allowing the adaptation of certain administrative details regulated under the treaty.WIPO is therefore proposing revisions to the TLT, including:
provisions on electronic filing of trade mark applications and associated communications;
formalities concerning the representation of all types of marks, including visible signs (and certain forms of visible signs, such as hologram marks, colour marks, position marks or motion marks) as well as non-visible signs;
provisions concerning the recording of trade mark licenses;
relief measures when certain time limits have been missed; and
the establishment of an assembly of the contracting parties.
A basic proposal has now been agreed, and will be presented to the diplomatic conference in March 2006.
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