{as revised at Brussels on December 14, 1900, at Washington on June 2, 1911, at The Hague on November 6, 1925, at London on June 2, 1934, at Nice on June 15, 1957, and at Stockholm on July 14, 1967.
Entry into force
(of the 1979 amendments): October 23, 1983.
Source:
International Bureau of WIPO}
Article 1
{Establishment of
a Special Union. Filing of Marks at International Bureau. Definition of Country
of Origin} > (Articles have been given titles to facilitate their
identification. There are no titles in the signed, French text)
(1) The countries
to which this Agreement applies constitute a Special Union for the
international registration of marks.
(2) Nationals of
any of the contracting countries may, in all the other countries party to this
Agreement, secure protection for their marks applicable to goods or services,
registered in the country of origin, by filing the said marks at the
International Bureau of Intellectual Property (hereinafter designated as
"the International Bureau") referred to in the Convention
Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (hereinafter
designated as "the Organization"), through the intermediary of the
Office of the said country of origin.
(3) Shall be
considered the country of origin the country of the Special Union where the
applicant has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment; if
he has no such establishment in a country of the Special Union, the country of
the Special Union where he has his domicile; if he has no domicile within the
Special Union but is a national of a country of the Special Union, the country
of which he is a national.
Article 2
{Reference to
Article 3 of Paris Convention (Same Treatment for Certain Categories of Persons
as for Nationals of Countries of the Union)}
Nationals of
countries not having acceded to this Agreement who, within the territory of the
Special Union constituted by the said Agreement, satisfy the conditions
specified in Article 3 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial
Property shall be treated in the same manner as nationals of the contracting
countries.
Article 3
{Contents of
Application for International Registration}
(1) Every
application for international registration must be presented on the form
prescribed by the Regulations; the Office of the country of origin of the mark
shall certify that the particulars appearing in such application correspond to
the particulars in the national register, and shall mention the dates and
numbers of the filing and registration of the mark in the country of origin and
also the date of the application for international registration.
(2) The applicant
must indicate the goods or services in respect of which protection of the mark
is claimed and also, if possible, the corresponding class or classes according
to the classification established by the Nice Agreement Concerning the
International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the
Registration of Marks. If the applicant does not give such indication, the
International Bureau shall classify the goods or services in the appropriate
classes of the said Classification. The indication of classes given by the
applicant shall be subject to control by the International Bureau, which shall
exercise the said control in association with the national Office. In the event
of disagreement between the national Office and the International Bureau, the
opinion of the latter shall prevail.
(3) If the
applicant claims color as a distinctive feature of his mark, he shall be
required:
1. to
state the fact, and to file with his application a notice specifying the color
or the combination of colors claimed;
2. to
append to his application copies in color of the said mark, which shall be
attached to the notification given by the International Bureau. The number of
such copies shall be fixed by the Regulations.
(4) The
International Bureau shall register immediately the marks filed in accordance
with Article 1. The registration shall bear the date of the application for
international registration in the country of origin, provided that the
application has been received by the International Bureau within a period of
two months from that date. If the application has not been received within that
period, the International Bureau shall record it as at the date on which it
received the said application. The International Bureau shall notify such
registration without delay to the Offices concerned. Registered marks shall be
published in a periodical journal issued by the International Bureau, on the
basis of the particulars contained in the application for registration. In the
case of marks comprising a figurative element of a special form of writing, the
Regulations shall determine whether a printing block must be supplied by the
applicant.
(5) With a view to
the publicity to be given in the contracting countries to registered marks,
each Office shall receive from the International Bureau a number of copies of
the said publication free of charge and a number of copies at a reduced price,
in proportion to the number of units mentioned in Article 16(4)(a) of the Paris
Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, under the conditions
fixed by the Regulations. Such publicity shall be deemed in all the contracting
countries to be sufficient, and no other publicity may be required of the
applicant.
Article 3bis
{Territorial
Limitation}
(1) Any contracting
country may, at any time, notify the Director General of the Organization
(hereinafter designated as "the Director General") in writing that
the protection resulting from the international registration shall extend to
that country only at the express request of the proprietor of the mark.
(2) Such
notification shall not take effect until six months after the date of the
communication thereof by the Director General to the other contracting
countries.
Article 3ter
{Request for
(Territorial Extension)}
(1) Any request
for extension of the protection resulting from the international registration
to a country which has availed itself of the right provided for in Article 3bis
must be specially mentioned in the application referred to in Article 3(1).
(2) Any request
for territorial extension made subsequently to the international registration
must be presented through the intermediary of the Office of the country of
origin on a form prescribed by the Regulations. It shall be immediately
registered by the International Bureau, which shall notify it without delay to
the Office or Offices concerned. It shall be published in the periodical
journal issued by the International Bureau. Such territorial extension shall be
effective from the date on which it has been recorded in the International
Register; it shall cease to be valid on the expiration of the international
registration of the mark to which it relates.
Article 4
{Effects of
International Registration}
(1) From the date
of the registration so effected at the International Bureau in accordance with
the provisions of Articles 3 and 3ter, the protection of the mark in each of
the contracting countries concerned shall be the same as if the mark had been
filed therein direct. The indication of classes of goods or services provided
for in Article 3 shall not bind the contracting countries with regard to the
determination of the scope of the protection of the mark.
(2) Every mark
which has been the subject of an international registration shall enjoy the
right of priority provided for by Article 4 of the Paris Convention for the
Protection of Industrial Property, without requiring compliance with the
formalities prescribed in Section (4)D of that Article.
Article 4bis
{Substitution of
International Registration for Earlier National Registrations}
(1) When a mark
already filed in one or more of the contracting countries is later registered
by the International Bureau in the name of the same proprietor or his successor
in title, the international registration shall be deemed to have replaced the
earlier national registrations, without prejudice to any rights acquired by
reason of such earlier registrations.
(2) The national
Office shall, upon request, be required to take note in its registers of the
international registration.
Article 5
{Refusal by
National Offices}
(1) In countries
where the legislation so authorizes, Offices notified by the International
Bureau of the registration of a mark or of a request for extension of
protection made in accordance with Article 3ter shall have the right to declare
that protection cannot be granted to such mark in their territory. Any such
refusal can be based only on the grounds which would apply, under the Paris
Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, in the case of a mark
filed for national registration. However, protection may not be refused, even
partially, by reason only that national legislation would not permit
registration except in a limited number of classes or for a limited number of
goods or services.
(2) Offices
wishing to exercise such right must give notice of their refusal to the
International Bureau, together with a statement of all grounds, within the
period prescribed by their domestic law and, at the latest, before the
expiration of one year from the date of the international registration of the mark
or of the request for extension of protection made in accordance with Article
3ter.
(3) The
International Bureau shall, without delay, transmit to the Office of the
country of origin and to the proprietor of the mark, or to his agent if an
agent has been mentioned to the Bureau by the said Office, one of the copies of
the declaration of refusal so notified. The interested party shall have the
same remedies as if the mark had been filed by him direct in the country where
protection is refused.
(4) The grounds
for refusing a mark shall be communicated by the International Bureau to any
interested party who may so request.
(5) Offices which,
within the aforesaid maximum period of one year, have not communicated to the
International Bureau any provisional or final decision of refusal with regard
to the registration of a mark or a request for extension of protection shall
lose the benefit of the right provided for in paragraph (1) of this Article
with respect to the mark in question.
(6) Invalidation of
an international mark may not be pronounced by the competent authorities
without the proprietor of the mark having, in good time, been afforded the
opportunity of defending his rights. Invalidation shall be notified to the
International Bureau.
Article 5bis
{Documentary
Evidence of Legitimacy of Use of Certain Elements of Mark}
Documentary
evidence of the legitimacy of the use of certain elements incorporated in a
mark, such as armorial bearings, escutcheons, portraits, honorary distinctions,
titles, trade names, names of persons other than the name of the applicant, or
other like inscriptions, which might be required by the Offices of the
contracting countries shall be exempt from any legalization or certification
other than that of the Office of the country of origin.
Article 5ter
{Copies of Entries
in International Register. Searches for Anticipation. Extracts from
International Register}
(1) The
International Bureau shall issue to any person applying therefor, subject to a
fee fixed by the Regulations, a copy of the entries in the Register relating to
a specific mark.
(2) The
International Bureau may also, upon payment, undertake searches for
anticipation among international marks.
(3) Extracts from
the International Register requested with a view to their production in one of
the contracting countries shall be exempt from all legalization.
Article 6
{Period of
Validity of International Registration. Independence of International
Registration. Termination of Protection in Country of Origin}
(1) Registration
of a mark at the International Bureau is effected for twenty years, with the
possibility of renewal under the conditions specified in Article 7.
(2) Upon
expiration of a period of five years from the date of the international
registration, such registration shall become independent of the national mark
registered earlier in the country of origin, subject to the following
provisions.
(3) The protection
resulting from the international registration, whether or not it has been the
subject of a transfer, may no longer be invoked, in whole or in part, if,
within five years from the date of the international registration, the national
mark, registered earlier in the country of origin in accordance with Article 1,
no longer enjoys, in whole or in part, legal protection in that country. This
provision shall also apply when legal protection has later ceased as the result
of an action begun before the expiration of the period of five years.
(4) In the case of
voluntary or ex officio cancellation, the Office of the country of origin shall
request the cancellation of the mark at the International Bureau, and the
latter shall effect the cancellation. In the case of judicial action, the said
Office shall send to the International Bureau, ex officio or at the request of
the plaintiff, a copy of the complaint or any other documentary evidence that
an action has begun, and also of the final decision of the court; the Bureau
shall enter notice thereof in the International Register.
Article 7
{Renewal of International
Registration}
(1) Any
registration may be renewed for a period of twenty years from the expiration of
the preceding period, by payment only of the basic fee and, where necessary, of
the supplementary and complementary fees provided for in Article 8(2).
(2) Renewal may
not include any change in relation to the previous registration in its latest
form.
(3) The first
renewal effected under the provisions of the Nice Act of June 15, 1957, or of
this Act, shall include an indication of the classes of the International
Classification to which the registration relates.
(4) Six months
before the expiration of the term of protection, the International Bureau
shall, by sending an unofficial notice, remind the proprietor of the mark and
his agent of the exact date of expiration.
(5) Subject to the
payment of a surcharge fixed by the Regulations, a period of grace of six
months shall be granted for renewal of the international registration.
Article 8
{National Fee.
International Fee. Division of Excess Receipts, Supplementary Fees, and
Complementary Fees}
(1) The Office of
the country of origin may fix, at its own discretion, and collect, for its own
benefit, a national fee which it may require from the proprietor of the mark in
respect of which international registration or renewal is applied for.
(2) Registration
of a mark at the International Bureau shall be subject to the advance payment
of an international fee which shall include:
(a) a basic fee;
(b) a
supplementary fee for each class of the International Classification, beyond
three, into which the goods or services to which the mark is applied will fall;
(c) a
complementary fee for any request for extension of protection under Article
3ter.
(3) However, the
supplementary fee specified in paragraph (2)(b) may, without prejudice to the
date of registration, be paid within a period fixed by the Regulations if the
number of classes of goods or services has been fixed or disputed by the
International Bureau. If, upon expiration of the said period, the supplementary
fee has not been paid or the list of goods or services has not been reduced to
the required extent by the applicant, the application for international
registration shall be deemed to have been abandoned.
(4) The annual
returns from the various receipts from international registration, with the
exception of those provided for under paragraph (2)(b) and (2)(c), shall be
divided equally among the countries party to this Act by the International
Bureau, after deduction of the expenses and charges necessitated by the
implementation of the said Act. If, at the time this Act enters into force, a
country has not yet ratified or acceded to the said Act, it shall be entitled,
until the date on which its ratification or accession becomes effective, to a
share of the excess receipts calculated on the basis of that earlier Act which
is applicable to it.
(5) The amounts
derived from the supplementary fees provided for in paragraph (2)(b) shall be
divided at the expiration of each year among the countries party to this Act or
to the Nice Act of June 15, 1957, in proportion to the number of marks for
which protection has been applied for in each of them during that year, this
number being multiplied in the case of countries which make a preliminary
examination, by a coefficient which shall be determined by the Regulations. If,
at the time this Act enters into force, a country has not yet ratified or
acceded to the said Act, it shall be entitled, until the date on which its
ratification or accession becomes effective, to a share of the amounts
calculated on the basis of the Nice Act.
(6) The amounts
derived from the complementary fees provided for in paragraph (2)(c) shall be
divided according to the requirements of paragraph (5) among the countries
availing themselves of the right provided for in Article 3bis. If, at the time
this Act enters into force, a country has not yet ratified or acceded to the
said Act, it shall be entitled, until the date on which its ratification or
accession becomes effective, to a share of the amounts calculated on the basis
of the Nice Act.
Article 8bis
{Renunciation in
Respect of One or More Countries}
The person in
whose name the international registration stands may at any time renounce
protection in one or more of the contracting countries by means of a
declaration filed with the Office of his own country, for communication to the
International Bureau, which shall notify accordingly the countries in respect
of which renunciation has been made. Renunciation shall not be subject to any
fee.
Article 9
{Changes in
National Registers also Affecting International Registration. Reduction of List
of Goods and Services Mentioned in International Registration. Additions to
that List. Substitutions in that List}
(1) The Office of
the country of the person in whose name the international registration stands
shall likewise notify the International Bureau of all annulments,
cancellations, renunciations, transfers, and other changes made in the entry of
the mark in the national register, if such changes also effect the
international registration.
(2) The Bureau
shall record those changes in the International Register, shall notify them in
turn to the Offices of the contracting countries, and shall publish them in its
journal.
(3) A similar
procedure shall be followed when the person in whose name the international
registration stands requests a reduction of the list of goods or services to
which the registration applies.
(4) Such
transactions may be subject to a fee, which shall be fixed by the Regulations.
(5) The subsequent
addition of new goods or services to the said list can be obtained only by
filing a new application as prescribed in Article 3.
(6) The substitution
of one of the goods or services for another shall be treated as an addition.
Article 9bis
{Transfer of
International Mark Entailing Change in Country of Proprietor}
(1) When a mark
registered in the International Register is transferred to a person established
in a contracting country other than the country of the person in whose name the
international registration stands, the transfer shall be notified to the International
Bureau by the Office of the latter country. The International Bureau shall
record the transfer, shall notify the other Offices thereof, and shall publish
it in its journal. If the transfer has been effected before the expiration of a
period of five years from the international registration, the International
Bureau shall seek the consent of the Office of the country of the new
proprietor, and shall publish, if possible, the date and registration number of
the mark in the country of the new proprietor.
(2) No transfer of
a mark registered in the International Register for the benefit of a person who
is not entitled to file an international mark shall be recorded.
(3) When it has
not been possible to record a transfer in the International Register, either
because the country of the new proprietor has refused its consent or because
the said transfer has been made for the benefit of a person who is not entitled
to apply for international registration, the Office of the country of the
former proprietor shall have the right to demand that the International Bureau
cancel the mark in its Register.
Article 9ter
{Assignment of
International Mark for Part Only of Registered Goods or Services or for Certain
Contracting Countries. Reference to Article 6quater of Paris Convention
(Assignment of Mark)}
(1) If the
assignment of an international mark for part only of the registered goods or
services is notified to the International Bureau, the Bureau shall record it in
its Register. Each of the contracting countries shall have the right to refuse
to recognize the validity of such assignment if the goods or services included
in the part so assigned are similar to those in respect of which the mark
remains registered for the benefit of the assignor.
(2) The International
Bureau shall likewise record the assignment of an international mark in respect
of one or several of the contracting countries only.
(3) If, in the
above cases, a change occurs in the country of the proprietor, the Office of
the country to which the new proprietor belongs shall, if the international
mark has been transferred before the expiration of a period of five years from
the international registration, give its consent as required by Article 9bis.
(4) The provisions
of the foregoing paragraphs shall apply subject to Article 6quater of the Paris
Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
Article 9quater
{Common Office for
Several Contracting Countries. Request by Several Contracting Countries to be
Treated as a Single Country}
(1) If several
countries of the Special Union agree to effect the unification of their
domestic legislations on marks, they may notify the Director General:
(a) that a common
Office shall be substituted for the national Office of each of them, and
(b) that the whole
of their respective territories shall be deemed to be a single country for the
purposes of the application of all or part of the provisions preceding this
Article.
(2) Such
notification shall not take effect until six months after the date of the
communication thereof by the Director General to the other contracting
countries.
Article 10
{Assembly of the
Special Union}
(1) (a) The
Special Union shall have an Assembly consisting of those countries which have
ratified or acceded to this Act.
(b) The Government
of each country shall be represented by one delegate, who may be assisted by
alternate delegates, advisors, and experts.
(c) The expenses
of each delegation shall be borne by the Government which has appointed it,
except for the travel expenses and the subsistence allowance of one delegate
for each member country, which shall be paid from funds of the Special Union.
(2) (a) The
Assembly shall:
(i) deal with all
matters concerning the maintenance and development of the Special Union and the
implementation of this Agreement;
(ii) give
directions to the International Bureau concerning the preparation for
conferences of revision, due account being taken of any comments made by those
countries of the Special Union which have not ratified or acceded to this Act;
(iii) modify the
Regulations, including the fixation of the amounts of the fees referred to in
Article 8(2) and other fees relating to international registration;
(iv) review and
approve the reports and activities of the Director General concerning the
Special Union, and give him all necessary instructions concerning matters
within the competence of the Special Union;
(v) determine the
program and adopt the biennial budget of the Special Union, and approve its
final accounts;
(vi) adopt the
financial regulations of the Special Union;
(vii) establish
such committees of experts and working groups as it may deem necessary to
achieve the objectives of the Special Union;
(viii) determine
which countries not members of the Special Union and which intergovernmental
and international non-governmental organizations shall be admitted to its
meetings as observers;
(ix) adopt
amendments to Articles 10 to 13;
(x) take any other
appropriate action designed to further the objectives of the Special Union;
(xi) perform such
other functions as are appropriate under this Agreement.
(b) With respect
to matters which are of interest also to other Unions administered by the
Organization, the Assembly shall make its decisions after having heard the
advice of the Coordination Committee of the Organization.
(3) (a) Each
country member of the Assembly shall have one vote.
(b) One half of
the countries members of the Assembly shall constitute a quorum.
(c)
Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (b), if, in any session, the
number of countries represented is less than one half but equal to or more than
one third of the countries members of the Assembly, the Assembly may make decisions
but, with the exception of decisions concerning its own procedure, all such
decisions shall take effect only if the conditions set forth hereinafter are
fulfilled. The International Bureau shall commmunicate the said decisions to
the countries members of the Assembly which were not represented and shall
invite them to express in writing their vote or abstention within a period of
three months from the date of the communication. If, at the expiration of this
period, the number of countries having thus expressed their vote or abstention
attains the number of countries which was lacking for attaining the quorum in
the session itself, such decisions shall take effect provided that at the same
time the required majority still obtains.
(d) Subject to the
provisions of Article 13(2), the decisions of the Assembly shall require two
thirds of the votes cast.
(e) Abstentions
shall not be considered as votes.
(f) A delegate may
represent, and vote in the name of, one country only.
(g) Countries of
the Special Union not members of the Assembly shall be admitted to the meetings
of the latter as observers.
(4) (a) The
Assembly shall meet once in every second calendar year in ordinary session upon
convocation by the Director General and, in the absence of exceptional
circumstances, during the same period and at the same place as the General
Assembly of the Organization.
(b) The Assembly
shall meet in extraordinary session upon convocation by the Director General,
at the request of one fourth of the countries members of the Assembly.
(c) The agenda of
each session shall be prepared by the Director General.
(5) The Assembly
shall adopt its own rules of procedure.
Article 11
{International
Bureau}
(1) (a)
International registration and related duties, as well as all other
administrative tasks concerning the Special Union, shall be performed by the
International Bureau.
(b) In particular,
the International Bureau shall prepare the meetings and provide the secretariat
of the Assembly and of such committees of experts and working groups as may
have been established by the Assembly.
(c) The Director
General shall be the chief executive of the Special Union and shall represent
the Special Union.
(2) The Director
General and any staff member designated by him shall participate, without the
right to vote, in all meetings of the Assembly and of such committees of
experts or working groups as may have been established by the Assembly. The
Director General, or a staff member designated by him, shall be ex officio
secretary of those bodies.
(3) (a) The
International Bureau shall, in accordance with the directions of the Assembly,
make the preparations for the conferences of revision of the provisions of the
Agreement other than Articles 10 to 13.
(b) The
International Bureau may consult with intergovernmental and international
non-governmental organizations concerning preparations for conferences of
revision.
(c) The Director
General and persons designated by him shall take part, without the right to
vote, in the discussions at those conferences.
(4) The
International Bureau shall carry out any other tasks assigned to it.
Article 12
{Finances}
(1) (a) The
Special Union shall have a budget.
(b) The budget of
the Special Union shall include the income and expenses proper to the Special
Union, its contribution to the budget of expenses common to the Unions, and,
where applicable, the sum made available to the budget of the Conference of the
Organization.
(c) Expenses not
attributable exclusively to the Special Union but also to one or more other
Unions administered by the Organization shall be considered as expenses common
to the Unions. The share of the Special Union in such common expenses shall be
in proportion to the interest the Special Union has in them.
(2) The budget of
the Special Union shall be established with due regard to the requirements of
coordination with the budgets of the other Unions administered by the
Organization.
(3) The budget of
the Special Union shall be financed from the following sources:
(i) international
registration fees and other fees and charges due for other services rendered by
the International Bureau in relation to the Special Union;
(ii) sale of, or
royalties on, the publications of the International Bureau concerning the
Special Union;
(iii) gifts,
bequests, and subventions;
(iv) rents,
interests, and other miscellaneous income.
(4) (a) The
amounts of the fees referred to in Article 8(2) and other fees relating to
international registration shall be fixed by the Assembly on the proposal of
the Director General.
(b) The amounts of
such fees shall be so fixed that the revenues of the Special Union from fees,
other than the supplementary and complementary fees referred to in Article
8(2)(b) and 8(2)(c), and other sources shall be at least sufficient to cover
the expenses of the International Bureau concerning the Special Union.
(c) If the budget
is not adopted before the beginning of a new financial period, it shall be at
the same level as the budget of the previous year, as provided in the financial
regulations.
(5) Subject to the
provisions of paragraph (4)(a), the amount of fees and charges due for other
services rendered by the International Bureau in relation to the Special Union
shall be established, and shall be reported to the Assembly, by the Director
General.
(6) (a) The
Special Union shall have a working capital fund which shall be constituted by a
single payment made by each country of the Special Union. If the fund becomes
insufficient, the Assembly shall decide to increase it.
(b) The amount of
the initial payment of each country to the said fund or of its participation in
the increase thereof shall be a proportion of the contribution of that country
as a member of the Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property to the
budget of the said Union for the year in which the fund is established or the
decision to increase it is made.
(c) The proportion
and the terms of payment shall be fixed by the Assembly on the proposal of the
Director General and after it has heard the advice of the Coordination Committee
of the Organization.
(d) As long as the
Assembly authorizes the use of the reserve fund of the Special Union as a
working capital fund, the Assembly may suspend the application of the
provisions of subparagraphs (a), (b), and (c).
(7) (a) In
the headquarters agreement concluded with the country on the territory of which
the Organization has its headquarters, it shall be provided that, whenever the
working capital fund is insufficient, such country shall grant advances. The
amount of those advances and the conditions on which they are granted shall be
the subject of separate agreements, in each case, between such country and the
Organization.
(b) The country
referred to in subparagraph (a) and the Organization shall each have the right
to denounce the obligation to grant advances, by written notification.
Denunciation shall take effect three years after the end of the year in which
it has been notified.
(8) The auditing
of the accounts shall be effected by one or more of the countries of the Special
Union or by external auditors, as provided in the financial regulations. They
shall be designated, with their agreement, by the Assembly.
Article 13
{Amendment of
Articles 10 to 13}
(1) Proposals for
the amendment of Articles 10, 11, 12, and the present Article, may be initiated
by any country member of the Assembly, or by the Director General. Such
proposals shall be communicated by the Director General to the member countries
of the Assembly at least six months in advance of their consideration by the
Assembly.
(2) Amendments to the Articles referred to
in paragraph (1) shall be adopted by the Assembly. Adoption shall require three
fourths of the votes cast, provided that any amendment to Article 10, and to
the present paragraph, shall require four fifths of the votes cast.
(3) Any amendments to the Articles
referred to in paragraph (1) shall enter into force one month after written
notifications of acceptance, effected in accordance with their respective
constitutional processes, have been received by the Director General from three
fourths of the countries members of the Assembly at the time it adopted the
amendment. Any amendment to the said Articles thus accepted shall bind all the
countries which are members of the Assembly at the time the amendment enters
into force, or which become members thereof at a subsequent date.
Article 14
{Ratification and Accession. Entry into
Force. Accession to Earlier Acts. Reference to Article 24 of Paris Convention
(Territories)}
(1) Any country of the Special Union which
has signed this Act may ratify it, and, if it has not signed it, may accede to
it.
(2) (a) Any country outside the
Special Union which is party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of
Industrial Property may accede to this Act and thereby become a member of the
Special Union.
(b) As soon as the International Bureau is
informed that such a country has acceded to this Act, it shall address to the
Office of that country, in accordance with Article 3, a collective notification
of the marks which, at that time, enjoy international protection.
(c) Such notification shall, of itself,
ensure to the said marks the benefits of the foregoing provisions in the
territory of the said country, and shall mark the commencement of the period of
one year during which the Office concerned may make the declaration provided
for in Article 5.
(d) However, any such country may, in
acceding to this Act, declare that, except in the case of international marks
which have already been the subject in that country of an earlier identical
national registration still in force, and which shall be immediately recognized
upon the request of the interested parties, application of this Act shall be
limited to marks registered from the date on which its accession enters into
force.
(e) Such declaration shall dispense the
International Bureau from making the collective notification referred to above.
The International Bureau shall notify only those marks in respect of which it
receives, within a period of one year from the accession of the new country, a
request, with the necessary particulars, to take advantage of the exception
provided for in subparagraph (d).
(f) The International Bureau shall not
make the collective notification to such countries as declare, in acceding to
this Act, that they are availing themselves of the right provided for in
Article 3bis. The said countries may also declare at the same time that the
application of this Act shall be limited to marks registered from the day on
which their accessions enter into force; however, such limitation shall not
affect international marks which have already been the subject of an earlier
identical national registration in those countries, and which could give rise
to requests for extension of protection made and notified in accordance with
Articles 3ter and 8(2)(c).
(g) Registrations
of marks which have been the subject of one of the notifications provided for
in this paragraph shall be regarded as replacing registrations effected direct
in the new contracting country before the date of entry into force of its
accession.
(3) Instruments of
ratification and accession shall be deposited with the Director General.
(4) (a) With
respect to the first five countries which have deposited their instruments of
ratification or accession, this Act shall enter into force three months after
the deposit of the fifth such instrument.
(b) With respect
to any other country, this Act shall enter into force three months after the
date on which its ratification or accession has been notified by the Director
General, unless a subsequent date has been indicated in the instrument of
ratification or accession. In the latter case, this Act shall enter into force
with respect to that country on the date thus indicated.
(5) Ratification
or accession shall automatically entail acceptance of all the clauses and
admission to all the advantages of this Act.
(6) After the
entry into force of this Act, a country may accede to the Nice Act of June 15,
1957, only in conjunction with ratification of, or accession to, this Act.
Accession to Acts earlier than the Nice Act shall not be permitted, not even in
conjunction with ratification of, or accession to, this Act.
(7) The provisions
of Article 24 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
shall apply to this Agreement.
Article 15
{Denunciation}
(1) This Agreement
shall remain in force without limitation as to time.
(2) Any country
may denounce this Act by notification addressed to the Director General. Such
denunciation shall constitute also denunciation of all earlier Acts and shall
affect only the country making it, the Agreement remaining in full force and
effect as regards the other countries of the Special Union.
(3) Denunciation
shall take effect one year after the day on which the Director General has
received the notification.
(4) The right of
denunciation provided for by this Article shall not be exercised by any country
before the expiration of five years from the date upon which it becomes a
member of the Special Union.
(5) International
marks registered up to the date on which denunciation becomes effective, and
not refused within the period of one year provided for in Article 5, shall
continue, throughout the period of international protection, to enjoy the same
protection as if they had been filed direct in the denouncing country.
Article 16
{Application of
Earlier Acts}
(1) (a) This
Act shall, as regards the relations between the countries of the Special Union
by which it has been ratified or acceded to, replace, as from the day on which
it enters into force with respect to them, the Madrid Agreement of 1891, in its
texts earlier than this Act.
(b) However, any
country of the Special Union which has ratified or acceded to this Act shall
remain bound by the earlier texts which it has not previously denounced by
virtue of Article 12(4) of the Nice Act of June 15, 1957, as regards its
relations with countries which have not ratified or acceded to this Act.
(2) Countries
outside the Special Union which become party to this Act shall apply it to
international registrations effected at the International Bureau through the
intermediary of the national Office of any country of the Special Union not
party to this Act, provided that such registrations satisfy, with respect to
the said countries, the requirements of this Act. With regard to international
registrations effected at the International Bureau through the intermediary of
the national Offices of the said countries outside the Special Union which
become party to this Act, such countries recognize that the aforesaid country
of the Special Union may demand compliance with the requirements of the most
recent Act to which it is party.
Article 17
{Signature,
Languages, Depositary Functions}
(1) (a) This
Act shall be signed in a single copy in the French language and shall be
deposited with the Government of Sweden.
(b) Official texts
shall be established by the Director General, after consultation with the
interested Governments, in such other languages as the Assembly may designate.
(2) This Act shall
remain open for signature at Stockholm until January 13, 1968.
(3) The Director
General shall transmit two copies, certified by the Government of Sweden, of
the signed text of this Act to the Governments of all countries of the Special
Union and, on request, to the Government of any other country.
(4) The Director
General shall register this Act with the Secretariat of the United Nations.
(5) The Director
General shall notify the Governments of all countries of the Special Union of
signatures, deposits of instruments of ratification or accession and any
declarations included in such instruments, entry into force of any provisions
of this Act, notifications of denunciation, and notifications pursuant to
Articles 3bis, 9quater, 13, 14(7), and 15(2).
Article 18
{Transitional
Provisions}
(1) Until the
first Director General assumes office, references in this Act to the
International Bureau of the Organization or to the Director General shall be
construed as references to the Bureau of the Union established by the Paris
Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property or its Director,
respectively.
(2) Countries of
the Special Union not having ratified or acceded to this Act may, until five
years after the entry into force of the Convention establishing the
Organization, exercise, if they so desire, the rights provided for under
Articles 10 to 13 of this Act as if they were bound by those Articles. Any
country desiring to exercise such rights shall give written notification to
that effect to the Director General; such notification shall be effective from
the date of its receipt. Such countries shall be deemed to be members of the
Assembly until the expiration of the said period.