India might affix its signature on the Paris convention on protection of intellectual property in December 1998, highly placed government sources said.
The government had earlier indicated its willingness to join the treaty without specifying when it would do so.
The necessary papers for joining the convention were under preparation and a date may be chosen in December first or second week for the purpose, the sources added.
The Paris convention provides for uniform treatment for the nationals of Paris Convention member countries in the matters of intellectual property protection, right to file patent applications by nationals of any member state in other member states, independence of patents obtained for the same invention in different countries and conditions for grant of compulsory licence in case of abuse of the patent.
The Paris treaty is an enabling legisiation and a necessary condition to the Patent co-operation treaty which India has to join to fulfil its commitments made to the World Trade Organisation.
The Patent-coperation treaty, formalised in Washington in 1970 provides for filing of an international application where protection is sought for an invention in several countries.
Filing of such applications has the same effect as if the application has been filed separately in each of the countries in which protection is desired.
International application is then subjected to a search to discover is similar patents had been granted earlier, if yes, then it is processed separately in various countries, each of which may grant or refuse protection.
One advantage of joining these treaties is that Indian patent applications can avail of equal treatment and right of priority in all the Paris Convention members which currently contains 147 countries. India already secures such rights with 78 countries so far but this is through bilateral understandings on reciprocal basis.
Joining the Paris Convention will mean that the much awaited amendment to the Indian Patents Act will have to be made sooner or later. Under the TRIPS agreement, India has time till 2005 to set its patents regime in order. However it must provide for a mail-box provision and grant exclusive marketing rights (EMRs) in the meantime. Following the signing the Paris treaty, India might initiate steps to meet the EMR requirements for pharmaceutical and agricultural products, two commodities for which India does not provide product patents. The Paris Convention was originally adopted in 1883 and was last amended in 1979. It covers patents, utility models, industrial designs, trade marks, service marks, trade names and geographical indications.
