The Locarno Agreement Adalah: Understanding Its Significance in the World of Intellectual Property Rights
The Locarno Agreement is a treaty that establishes an international classification system for industrial designs. It was signed on October 8, 1968, in the Swiss city of Locarno and entered into force on April 1, 1970. The treaty is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and has been ratified by more than 50 countries.
The Locarno Agreement provides for the classification of industrial designs into 32 classes, each representing a different category of products. The purpose of the classification system is to facilitate the registration of designs in multiple countries by providing a common language for identifying and classifying designs. This helps to simplify the registration process and reduce the costs and time involved in securing protection for a design.
One of the key features of the Locarno Agreement is its use of International Classification of Industrial Designs (LOC) which is a hierarchical system consisting of classes, subclasses and divisions. Each class represents a broad category of products, such as furniture, clothing, or vehicles. Subclasses and divisions provide more specific classifications within each class. For example, Class 20 covers furniture; subclass 20-03 covers chairs and seats; division 20-03-01 covers armchairs.
The use of the LOC system has several benefits for designers and businesses seeking to protect their industrial designs. First, it provides a standardized way of describing designs, making it easier to communicate about them across different countries and languages. Second, the system helps to avoid confusion and prevent disputes over the classification of designs. Finally, the system facilitates the search for existing designs and can help to avoid the unintentional infringement of existing rights.
Under the Locarno Agreement, each contracting country is obliged to establish a national classification system based on the LOC system. This helps to ensure that industrial designs are classified consistently across different countries. In addition, the treaty establishes a searchable database of registered designs, known as the International Design Classification Search (IDCS). The database provides access to over 13 million classified designs from participating countries.
The Locarno Agreement is an important tool for businesses seeking to protect their industrial designs globally. By providing a standardized classification system and searchable database, the treaty helps to simplify the registration process and reduce the costs and time involved in securing protection for a design. As the world becomes increasingly connected, the Locarno Agreement remains an essential tool for designers and businesses looking to expand their markets and safeguard their intellectual property rights.