• The World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs)
(Since 1995)
The TRIPS Agreement provides
for minimum requirements to be adhered to by member countries to promote
effective and adequate protection of intellectual property rights and
to ensure that measures and procedures to enforce intellectual
property rights do not become barriers to legitimate trade.
• Patent Cooperation Treaty
(Since 2001)
The Patent Cooperation Treaty
(PCT) is an agreement for international cooperation in filing, searching,
and examination of patent applications and the dissemination of technical
information contained in the applications. The Treaty implements the
concept of a single international patent application which has legal
effect in the countries which are bound by the Treaty and which are
designated by the applicant. The Philippines became the 112th contracting
state of the PCT in 2001. The accession to the PCT provides easier and
less expensive way to obtain strong protection for inventions not only
in the Philippines but in other countries as well.
• The Internet Treaties-WIPO Copyright
Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances
and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT)
(Since 2002)
The WCT protects literary
and artistic works such as books, music, film, paintings, sculptures
and computer programs. The WPPT protects the rights of performers and
producers of phonograms or sound recordings. The purpose of the treaties
is to update and improve the protection afforded by the existing copyright
and related rights treaties like the Berne Convention and the Rome Convention,
which date back more than a quarter of a century, long before the development
of personal computers and the Internet.
