Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks to Enter into Force in 2009.
This is good news for trademark owners worldwide. The Singapore Treaty, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), will open the way for the branded goods industry to register and manage trademark rights cost-effectively and efficiently. The treaty “… standardizes procedural aspects of trademark registration and licensing and enables owners of trademarks and national trademark authorities to take advantage of efficiencies in using modern communications technologies to process and manage evolving trademark rights.” The USA ratified the Singapore Treaty on 1 October 2008.
Australia ratified the treaty on 16 December 2008. Australia was the tenth country to do so; therefore, according to its terms, the Singapore Treaty will go into full effect on 16 March 2009, three months after the tenth ratification. The ratifying nations are:
Singapore
Switzerland
Bulgaria
Romania
Denmark
Latvia
the Kyrgyz Republic
USA
Moldova
Australia
Over time, other WIPO countries will, we hope, join with these first ten under the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks to help to standardize trademark law throughout the world and make registration across international boundaries more and more seamless. More information about the Singapore Treaty can be found on the Singapore Treaty’s webpage on the WIPO site.