Article 6ter - Procedure for States

Article 6ter - Procedure for States

States desiring to communicate, under Article 6ter(3)(a) of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the list of armorial bearings, flags and other State emblems, and official signs and hallmarks indicating control and warranty that they wish to have protected under Article 6ter(1)(a) of the Convention, should take the following steps:

1. Send the following via article6ter@wipo.int to the International Bureau of WIPO for its comments:

• a draft request for communication of the sign(s) that the State wishes to have protected under Article 6ter(1)(a), presented on behalf of the competent national authorities and based on the model provided below;
• a draft reproduction of the sign(s) for which protection is sought. The reproduction should be sufficiently clear, and available in a downloadable format (Word, JPEG or editable PDF), in 300x300 dpi (dots per inch);
• For official signs and hallmarks indicating control and warranty, a list (in English and French) of goods or services to which the sign applies, which should not exceed 4000 characters (spaces included);
• The contact details of the requesting party, which should include the name of the State administration transmitting the request, its postal address, and an email address (a generic email address).

The following can serve as models for the draft request and draft reproduction:

• a draft request 
• a draft reproduction

2. Once the draft request and the draft reproduction are found to be in order for communication, send to the International Bureau an official request for communication, using the format as found in order by the International Bureau, signed by the competent national authority, together with a reproduction of the sign(s) for which protection is requested. The request can be scanned and sent to article6ter@wipo.int.

Formal requests made by States are generally presented by one of the following entities: the national IP Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Permanent Mission of the country in Geneva. 

The request for communication should reach the International Bureau no later than one month before the date of the semi-annual electronic communication, which takes place on the last working day in March and September of each year. Official requests received during the one-month period prior to the semi-annual publication will not be included in that publication, but published as part of the following semi-annual publication.

Article 6ter - Procedure for IGOs

International intergovernmental organizations desiring to communicate, under Article 6ter(3)(b) of the Paris Convention, the list of armorial bearings, flags, other emblems, abbreviations and names that they wish to have protected under Article 6ter(1)(b) of the Convention, should take the following steps:

1. Send the following via article6ter@wipo.int to the International Bureau of WIPO for its comments:

• a draft request for communication of the sign(s) that the organization wishes to have protected under Article 6ter(1)(b), presented by the executive head of the organization concerned or an officer of that organization duly authorized to that effect and based on the model provided below;
• a draft reproduction of the sign(s) for which protection is sought;
• a copy in English or French of the Statutes or Constituting Chart of the organization submitting the request and a list of its member States, except in the case of an organization belonging to the United Nations system or an organization that has already communicated such information to WIPO
• The contact details of the requesting party, which should include a postal address and an email address (a generic address). 

The following can serve as models for the draft request and draft reproduction:

• draft request ; for requests made under the Guidelines, use this model :
• draft reproduction

2. Once the draft request and the draft reproduction are found to be in order for communication, send to the International Bureau an official request for communication, using the format as found in order by the International Bureau, together with a reproduction of the sign(s) for which protection is requested: The request can be scanned and sent via article6ter@wipo.int.

Formal requests made by IGOs are generally presented by the IGO’s Executive Head. The requests for communication of signs of institutions or programs should be presented by the IGO under whose auspices they were established.

The request for communication should reach the IB no later than one month before the date of the semi-annual electronic communication on the last working day in March and September of each year. Official requests received during the one-month period prior to the semi-annual publication will not be included in that publication, but published as part of the following semi-annual publication.