Do WIPO-administered treaties contain provisions on IP enforcement?

Article 3 of the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) states as a primary objective the promotion of the protection of intellectual property throughout the world, in cooperation with its Member States. The protection of intellectual property rights requires the enactment of intellectual property legislation as well as the effective enforcement of the rights, which are conferred through the laws and regulations. Accordingly, as a general obligation, Contracting Parties to the various WIPO-administered treaties on the protection of intellectual property are bound to adopt measures, which are necessary to ensure the effectiveness of these treaties in their territories (see, for example, Art. 25 of the Paris Convention, Art. 36 of the Berne Convention, Art. 26 of the Rome Convention, Art. 14 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and Art. 23 of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT)).

In addition, several of the treaties administered by WIPO include special enforcement provisions over issues covered in the respective treaty.

Examples of enforcement provisions in Treaties administered by WIPO

• Articles 9 and 10 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property require seizure or equivalent measures on importation of goods unlawfully bearing a trademark or trade name or certain false indications.
• Under Article 10 ter(1) of the Paris Convention, members of the Paris Union "undertake to assure to nationals of the other countries of the Union appropriate legal remedies effectively to repress" certain acts which are prohibited under Articles 9, 10 and 10 bis of the Convention.
• Article 15 of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works contains a presumption that the person whose name appears on the work is entitled to institute infringement proceedings in the countries of the Union for the purpose of enforcing right protected under the Convention.
• Article 16(1) and (2) of the Berne Convention provides that infringing copies of a work are subject to seizure in any country of the Berne Union where the work enjoys protection, even when the copies originate from a country where the work is not or no longer protected.
• Article 13(3) of the Berne Convention also provides for the seizure of copies of certain recordings of musical works imported without the permission of the author or other owner of copyright in the country of importation.
• Article 11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and Article 18 of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) require Contracting States to provide adequate legal protection and effective legal remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures. Moreover, Article 12 of the WCT and Article 19 of the WPPT require Contracting States to provide adequate and effective legal remedies with respect to certain obligations relating to the protection of rights management information.