Shanelle Anne Pineda Pineda

In a nutshell, the Intellectual Property Code, or R.A. 8293 is a gathering of the treaties that the Phillipines has signed, as well as the previous intellectual property protection laws legislated by Congress. The Philippines, with its foreign policy on treaties, entered the following treaties: The Berne Convention of 1938 for the protection of Literary and Artistic Works, is found more or less mirrored in the Law on Copyrights of R.A. 8293 (Part IV). It provides for the minimum standards of copyright of literature and art. It also provides for the limitations of the intellectual property right. The Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial Property, can be found in the Law on Patents and the Law on Trademarks, Service Marks and Trade Names in R.A. 8293. Part of the Paris Convention tackles patents, utility models and industrial designs (Part II, R.A. 8293). Another part of it tackles the registration of trademarks and the protection of service marks and trade names (Part III, R.A. 8293). The Patent Cooperation Treaty provides for when patents can be applied to a large number of countries simultaneously. A similar provision in R.A. 8293 can be found in Section 31 of the same. The Budapest treaty of 1981 requires the deposit of microorganisms for the purposes of patent procedure must recognize, for such purposes, the deposit of amicroorganismwith any international depositary authority. Section 35 of R.A. 8293 provides for the same thing. The Rome Convention dealt with the protection of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations. The provisions of this treaty, like the provisions of the Berne Convention can be found on Part IV of R.A. 8293. Three Chapters are provided for in our code for the protection of performers, producers and broadcasting organizations. The TRIPS Agreement or The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is of a more general nature than the previous treaties. For one, the TRIPS agreement is based on the Paris Convention, and the TRIPS Agreement sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property regulation. It is the most comprehensive agreement on intellectual property as of now. The Philippines, as a member of the World Trade Organization, has entered this treaty. The WIPO Internet Treaties, acceded by our country in the 2000s, aims to protect copyright that are digital in nature, ie. The internet. It seems to have a goal of reducing piracy over the net. Lately, amemdments to R.A. 8293 have been signed to law adding provisions to our Laws on Copyright that aim the same things. One of the treaties, the WIPO Convention, entered by the Phillipines is a treaty creating the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Also, a reading of our R.A. 8293 and all treaties reveal that they all apply the national treatment principle. The Berne Convention of 1938, the Paris Convention of 1965, the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970 amended in 2001, the Budapest Treaty of 1981, the Rome convention of 1984, the TRIPS Agreement and the WIPO Internet Treaties have been codified with some old laws into our present Code, it would seem. The relation of our Intellectual Property Law with International Intellectual Property Treaties seem to be closer than expected.