It is essential to understand that intellectual property rights are “territorial rights,” which means that they are normally only protected within a country (like France) or within a region ( like members of Organization of African Intellectual Property (OAPI) where registration and protection take place. As a result, a company that has applied for and been granted legal patent, trademark, or industrial design protection in its domestic market could soon realize that those rights do not provide protection in the export market, unless those rights have been registered and granted by the relevant export market’s national (or regional) intellectual property office.
Exceptions
This regulation has several exceptions that will be stated here. Firstly, trademarks can be protected by use in some countries (mostly those with “common law” legal systems, such as Australia, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States). That is, if a trademark is used in a relevant country’s territory, it will get a basis of protection even if it has not been registered. Although there are countries where a trademark can be protected by use, it is often preferable to register the trademark because it provides stronger protection and allows for easier enforcement and significantly decrease trouble.
Secondly, if the rights, such as copyright and related rights, do not require complying with administrative processes to get protection, there is no need to register elsewhere to receive protection. In terms of copyright, literary or artistic works (including computer software) are automatically protected as soon as they are created, or in certain countries, as soon as they are available in any physical form. About international protection, a work created by a national or resident of a country that is a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works or a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is automatically protected in all other Berne Convention or WTO member countries. The organization currently has over 150 member countries.
In any other case, however, submitting an application for intellectual property protection is an essential step for getting protection in another country. In most cases, if you want to:
- Meet the deadline for submitting applications to protect intellectual property rights internationally;
- Limit sharing to avoid being copied or imitated;
- Determine whether the product intended for export violates the intellectual property rights of other owners as soon as possible to avoid costly cases or being unable to bring the product to the targeted market.
- Allow you to easily arrange licensing, franchising, or other contracts with other businesses without being concerned about losing intellectual property rights to others
