Legal Definitions - Paris Convention

The Paris Convention is an international agreement that aims to protect industrial property rights. It is also known as the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. The convention was first signed in Paris, France in 1883 and has since been revised several times.

The Paris Convention provides a framework for protecting intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks, and industrial designs. It sets out the basic principles for the protection of these rights and establishes minimum standards that member countries must adhere to.

For example, if a company in the United States invents a new product and obtains a patent for it, the Paris Convention ensures that the patent will be recognized and protected in other member countries. This means that the company can prevent others from making, using, or selling the product without their permission.

The Paris Convention also provides for the right of priority, which allows an inventor to file a patent application in one member country and then have a certain amount of time to file the same application in other member countries without losing the priority date.