Article 6ter of the Paris Convention

Protection of State Emblems, and Names, Abbreviations and Emblems of International Intergovernmental Organizations

The purpose of Article 6ter is to protect the armorial bearings, flags and other State emblems of the States party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Convention). The protection granted by Article 6ter is extended to armorial bearings, flags, other emblems, abbreviations and names of international intergovernmental organizations, of which one or more countries of the Paris Union are members. In order to clarify certain aspects of Article 6ter(1)(b) and (3)(b), the Assembly of the Paris Union adopted the Guidelines for the Interpretation of Article 6ter(1)(b) and (3)(b) in 1992. In application of these Guidelines, any program or institution established by an international intergovernmental organization, and any convention constituting an international treaty may, under certain conditions, benefit from the protection granted by Article 6ter(1)(b) of the Paris Convention.

All armorial bearings, flags and other State emblems of the States party to the Paris Convention and of the Members of the WTO, as well as the names, abbreviations and other emblems of international intergovernmental organizations, which benefit from the application of Article 6ter, are available for searching, displaying and printing (text and images) in: