The World Intellectual Property Organisation, part of the United
Nations, has launched an on-line database of State emblems and
signs that enjoy protection under an international treaty known as
the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
The Paris Convention, originally signed in 1883 and subsequently
amended seven times, contains a provision – Article 6ter – that
prohibits signatory countries from registering unauthorised
applications for trade marks that consist of "armorial bearings,
flags, and other State emblems, of the countries of the Union".
A similar protection is also given to the "armorial bearings,
flags, other emblems, abbreviations, and names, of international
intergovernmental organisations of which one or more countries of
the Union are members."
The new database, entitled the "Article 6ter Express", was
launched earlier this year and forms part of the WIPO Industrial
Property Digital Library. It is available free of charge.
