INTRODUCTION

The Paris Convention originated from the first

International Patent Congress, which took place in
Vienna in 1873. On March 20,1883 the Paris union
was concluded and signed by 11, states with varying
degrees of Industrial development and entered in to
force in 1884.
 The Paris Convention, adopted in 1883, applies to industrial
property in the widest sense,
including patents, trademarks, industrial designs, utility models,
service marks, trade names, geographical indications and the
repression of unfair competition. This international agreement
was the first major step taken to help creators ensure that their
intellectual works were protected in other countries.
 HISTORY
History of the Convention The impetus of the Paris Convention
appears to have been two-fold:
 to avoid the unwanted loss of eligibility for patent protection
through publication of patent applications and participation in
international exhibitions in advance of filing national patent
applications;
 and a desire that the diverse patent laws of nations be
harmonized to some degree.
 Prior to the Convention, those wanting protection for inventions
in multiple countries needed to file patent applications in all
such countries simultaneously, and needed to do so prior to any
publication or exhibition of the invention at a trade fair, in order
to avoid the unintentional loss of eligibility of patent protection
in one or more of the countries.
The challenge then facing inventors caused many
who had been invited to the Austria-Hungary
international exhibition of inventions held in Vienna
in 1873 to be unwilling to exhibit their inventions,
leading to the enactment of a special Austrian law the
secured temporary protection to exhibitors and to the
Congress of Vienna for Patent Reform, convened that
same year.
REVISIONS
The Treaty was revised at Brussels, Belgium, on 14
December 1900,
 Washington, United States, on 2 June 1911,
 The Hague, Netherlands, on 6 November 1925,
 London, United Kingdom, on 2 June 1934,
 Lisbon, Portugal, on 31 October 1958,
 Stockholm, Sweden, on 14 July 1967,
And was amended on 28 September 1979.
OBJECTIVES
Its objectives were to secure legal protection for
industrial property and to encourage uniformity of
law .It achieved these goals by providing a truly
multilateral treaty, with liberal rules of accession
and an administrative structure that permitted
further organizational development. It largely
superseded the chaotic system of bilateral treaties.
PRINCIPLES
NATIONAL TREATMENT
Under the provisions on national treatment, the
Convention provides that, as regards the protection of
industrial property, each Contracting State must grant
the same protection to nationals of other Contracting
States that it grants to its own nationals. Nationals of non-
Contracting States are also entitled to national treatment
under the Convention if they are domiciled or have a real
and effective industrial or commercial establishment in a
Contracting State.
 RIGHT OF PRIORITY
The Convention provides for the right of priority in the
case of patents (and utility models where they exist), marks
and industrial designs. This right means that, on the basis of
a regular first application filed in one of the Contracting
States, the applicant may, within a certain period of time (12
months for patents and utility models; 6 months for
industrial designs and marks), apply for protection in any of
the other Contracting States. These subsequent applications
will be regarded as if they had been filed on the same day as
the first application.
COMMON RULES
The Convention lays down a few common rules that all
Contracting States must follow. The most important are:
(a) Patents.
 Patents granted in different Contracting States for the same
invention are independent of each other: the granting of a patent
in one Contracting State does not oblige other Contracting States
to grant a patent; a patent cannot be refused, annulled or
terminated in any Contracting State on the ground that it has
been refused or annulled or has terminated in any other
Contracting State.
(b) Marks.
 The Paris Convention does not regulate the conditions for
the filing and registration of marks which are determined
in each Contracting State by domestic law. Consequently,
no application for the registration of a mark filed by a
national of a Contracting State may be refused, nor may a
registration be invalidated, on the ground that filing,
registration or renewal has not been effected in the
country of origin.
(c) Industrial Designs
  Industrial designs must be protected in each Contracting State, and
protection may not be forfeited on the ground that articles
incorporating the design are not manufactured in that State.
(d) Trade Names
  Protection must be granted to trade names in each Contracting
State without there being an obligation to file or register the names.
(e) Indications of Source
 Measures must be taken by each Contracting State against direct
or indirect use of a false indication of the source of goods or the
identity of their producer, manufacturer or trader.
(f) Unfair competition.
Each Contracting State must provide for effective protection
against unfair competition.
ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORKS AND
FINAL CLAUSES
The Paris Union, established by the Convention, has an
Assembly and an Executive Committee. Every State that
is a member of the Union and has adhered to at least the
administrative and final provisions of the Stockholm Act
(1967) is a member of the Assembly. The members of the
Executive Committee are elected from among the
members of the Union, except for Switzerland, which is a
member ex officio. The establishment of the biennial
program and budget of the WIPO Secretariat – as far as
the Paris Union is concerned – is the task of its Assembly.
CONCLUSION
The Paris Convention applies to industrial property in the
widest sense, including patents, trademarks, industrial
designs, utility models (a kind of "small-scale patent"
provided for by the laws of some countries), service
marks, trade names (designations under which an
industrial or commercial activity is carried out),
geographical indications (indications of source and
appellations of origin) and the repression of unfair
competition.