          
          
          
          Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
          
               The oldest treaty relating to patents, trademarks, and 
          unfair competition is the Paris Convention for the 
          Protection of Industrial Property. The United States and 
          100 other countries are parties to this treaty. The Paris 
          Convention sets minimum standards of protection and 
          provides two important benefits: the right of national 
          treatment and the right of priority.
          
               "National treatment" means that a Convention country 
          will not discriminate against foreigners in granting patent 
          or trademark protection. Rights may be greater or less than 
          those provided under U.S. law, but the rights given will be 
          the same as that country provides to its own citizens.
          
               An invention may become public, and therefore 
          unpatentable in many countries, when a patent is issued or 
          an application is laid open to inspection in any country. 
          In addition, delay in filing a patent or trademark 
          application leaves open the possibility that those rights 
          will be lost because of intervening acts such as sale of 
          the invention or registration of the trademark by another. 
          The "right of priority" provides a solution to this problem 
          by giving an inventor an alternative to filing applications 
          in many countries simultaneously. It allows the applicant 
          one year from the date of the first application filed in a 
          Convention country (six months for a design or trademark) 
          in which to file in other countries.  Publication or sale 
          of an invention after first filing will therefore not 
          jeopardize patentability in countries which grant a right 
          of priority to U.S. applicants. Not all countries adhere to 
          the Paris Convention, but these benefits may be available 
          under another treaty or a bilateral agreement.
          
          
