On October 1, 2008, United States (USA) ratified the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks; this is an international treaty regarding trademarks rights, which streamlines and modernizes certain trademark office procedures.
Besides U.S. companies, the Treaty will benefit all signatories interested in protecting their trademarks abroad, efficiently and cost effectively.
The Treaty will enter into force as soon as ten contracting parties (countries or qualifying intergovernmental organizations) deposit ratification instruments to the Treaty with the WIPO Director General. The US ratification brings the current number of states party to the Treaty to eight. There is confidence that more countries would soon finalize the national processes that pave the way to ratification.
Once the Treaty enters into force, trademark owners will benefit from reduced transaction costs thanks to the efficiencies built into the Treaty, which simplifies and standardizes trademark office procedures.
Over 50 countries have already signed the Treaty. By signing it, states declare their support for the Treaty and their intention to formally join it. Singapore, which hosted the final round of negotiations in 2006 leading to the Treatys adoption, was the first country to finalize the ratification process in March 2007, followed by Switzerland, Bulgaria, Romania, Denmark, Latvia and Kyrgyzstan.
Background
The Singapore Treaty deals mainly with aspects of trademark registration process and licensing, and introduces greater flexibilities and efficiencies into the delivery of trademark registration services. By eliminating bureaucracy, enabling trademark authorities to take advantage of modern communications technologies, and simplifying and standardizing trademark office procedures, the Treatys objective is to reduce transaction costs for trademark owners.
Companies with a trademark portfolio will be in better position to develop and actively market their trademarks in both domestic and international markets. Once it enters into force, the Treaty will create a level playing field for all economic operators that invest in branded goods and a dynamic regulatory framework for trademark rights.
The Treaty recognizes the specific needs of developing and least developed nations and includes a commitment by industrialized countries to provide adequate technical assistance and other forms of support to strengthen the institutional capacity of those countries to enable them to take full advantage of the Treaty.
The Singapore Treaty explicitly recognizes that trademarks are no longer limited to two dimensional labels on products and specifically mentions new types of marks such as hologram marks, and non visible signs, such as sound or taste marks. Although such marks are at present relatively uncommon, it is likely that their popularity will rise as companies seek novel promotional ideas for their products in a marketplace that is continuously evolving.
The Treaty also establishes common rules for the recording, amendment and cancellation of trademark licenses. This development is particularly welcome, considering that more than 100 countries around the world provide for the recording of trademark licenses although this is not always mandatory. In this context, the branded goods sector, in which trademark licensing is widely practiced, stands to benefit from greater legal certainty, cost savings and efficiencies.
The Treaty also introduces new mandatory relief measures for trademark office procedures in order to alleviate procedural mistakes by trademark applicants, notably, missed time limits, which, if not remedied, could be detrimental to trademark rights. These measures are designed to enable swifter and more transparent trademark office procedures.
