India Accedes to the Paris Convention andthe Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

Geneva, September 8, 1998
Press Updates UPD/1998/32

On Monday, September 7, 1998, India deposited its instrument of accession to two international treaties with the Director General of WIPO in Geneva.

The two treaties were the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Both treaties will be binding on India as of December 7, 1998. With these accessions, there are now 151 countries which are party to the Paris Convention and 98 countries party to the PCT.

The Director General of WIPO, Dr. Kamil Idris, warmly welcomed India's accession to the two treaties. This welcome was echoed by the international intellectual property community, particularly trade and industrial circles, and the other countries which are already bound by those treaties.

The Paris Convention is one of the two basic intellectual property treaties administered by WIPO, the other being the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of which India has been a member for a very long time. The Paris Convention lays down basic international principles primarily governing the protection of patents, trademarks and industrial designs.

The PCT provides for the filing of a single international application in one language, having effect in each of the countries party to the PCT which the applicant designates in his application for patent protection. The great advantage offered by the PCT is that it simplifies procedures and reduces costs for owners of new inventions who apply for patent protection in multiple countries.

It will be possible to designate India in international applications only as from December 7, 1998, the date of entry into force of the PCT in respect of India.

More detailed information on the Patent Cooperation Treaty is available in the annex to this Update.