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Protecting the Intellectual Property Rights of Your SME Abroad |
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By World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
Why Should Your SME Protect its IP Abroad? When Should Your SME Protect its IP Abroad? How can Your SME Protect its IP Abroad?
Why Should Your SME Protect its IP Abroad? Sooner or later, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operate in more than one market selling their products or services or licensing/franchising their intellectual property (IP) rights and know-how beyond their national borders. IP rights, however, are territorial, implying that they are usually only protected in the home country or region where protection has been applied for and obtained. Protecting IP in export markets is therefore crucial so as to enjoy the same benefits of protection abroad as are enjoyed on the domestic market. You should carefully consider applying for IP protection well in time in all countries to which you are likely to export or license your product or service in the foreseeable future (see "How can Intellectual Property Enhance the Export Opportunities of Your SME?"). When Should Your SME Protect its IP Abroad? As a general recommendation, your SME should make sure to obtain adequate protection in all relevant export markets as early as possible.
With regard to trademarks and industrial designs, most countries provide a 6-months priority period from the date of filing of the first application for applying for trademarks and industrial designs in other countries. With regard to copyright, if you are a national or resident of a country party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works or member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) bound by the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, or if you have published your work for the first time or at least simultaneously in one of the above countries, your copyright will be automatically protected in all other countries that are party to the Berne Convention or are members of the WTO. How Can Your SME Protect its IP Abroad? N ational Applications
One option is to seek protection in individual countries separately by applying directly to national IP office. Each application may have to be translated into a prescribed language which is usually the national language. You will be required to pay the national application fees and, particularly in the case of patents, you may need to entrust an IP agent or attorney who will assist you in making sure the application meets national requirements. If you are still in the phase of assessing the commercial viability of an invention or are still exploring potential export markets or licensing partners, the national process would appear to be particularly expensive and cumbersome, especially where protection is being sought in a large number of countries. In such cases, the facilities offered by the WIPO-administered systems of international protection for inventions, marks and industrial designs offer a simpler and generally less expensive alternative.Regional Applications Some countries have established regional agreements for obtaining IP protection for an entire region with a single application. The regional IP offices include: European Patent Office Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market African Regional Industrial Property Office African Intellectual Property Office Eurasian Patent Office Benelux Trademark Office Patent Office of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf WIPO-administered systems of international protection significantly simplify the process for simultaneously seeking IP protection in a large number of countries. Rather than filing national applications in many languages, the systems of international protection enable you to file a single application, in one language, and to pay one application fee.
These international filing systems not only facilitate the process but also, in the case of marks and industrial designs, considerably reduce your costs for obtaining international protection (in the case of patents, the PCT helps your SME in gaining time to assess the commercial value of your invention before national fees are to be paid in the national phase). WIPO-administered systems of international protection include three different mechanisms of protection for specific industrial property rights. International protection of inventions International protection of trademarks International protection of industrial designs |
