Full text of EVFTA in MS Word format

Full text of the Annexes of EVFTA in MS Word format

CHAPTER 12: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

SECTION A

GENERAL PROVISIONS AND PRINCIPLES

ARTICLE 12.1

Objectives

1. The objectives of this Chapter are to:

(a) facilitate the creation, production and commercialisation of innovative and creative products between the Parties, contributing to a more sustainable and inclusive economy in each Party; and

(b) achieve an adequate and effective level of protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

2. The protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights should contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations.

ARTICLE 12.2
Nature and Scope of Obligations

1. The Parties affirm their rights and obligations under the international treaties dealing with intellectual property to which they are party, including the TRIPS Agreement. The Parties shall ensure an adequate and effective implementation of those treaties. This Chapter shall complement and further specify those rights and obligations between the Parties with an aim at ensuring adequate and effective implementation of those treaties, as well as the balance between the rights of intellectual property holders and the interest of the public.

2. For the purposes of this Agreement, intellectual property refers at least to all categories of intellectual property that are referred to in Sections 1 to 7 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement, namely:

(a) copyright and related rights;

(b) trademarks;

(c) geographical indications;

(d) industrial designs;

(e) patent rights;

(f) layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits;

(g) protection of undisclosed information; and

(h) plant varieties.

3. The protection of intellectual property includes protection against unfair competition as referred to in Article 10bis of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 20 March 1883, as last revised at Stockholm on 14 July 1967 (hereinafter referred to as "the Paris Convention").

ARTICLE 12.3
Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment

Paragraph 2 applies when any of the items of information referred to in that paragraph is associated with a copy of, or appears in connection with the communication to the public of, a work or other  subject-matter referred to in this Sub-Section.

ARTICLE 12.4
Exhaustion

Each Party shall be free to establish its own regime for the exhaustion of intellectual property rights subject to the relevant provisions of the TRIPS Agreement.

SECTION B
STANDARDS CONCERNING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS SUB-SECTION 1 COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
ARTICLE 12.5
Protection Granted

1. The Parties shall comply with the rights and obligations set out in the following international treaties: (a) the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 9 September 1886, as last revised at Paris on 24 July 1971 (hereinafter referred to as "the Berne Convention");

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