Article 6ter of the Paris Convention

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

Article 6ter of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Convention) is applicable to the States party to the Paris Convention as well as to all the Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), whether or not party to the said Convention through the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement).

The purpose of Article 6ter is to protect armorial bearings, flags and other State emblems of those States and Members identified above, as well as official signs and hallmarks indicating control and warranty adopted by them. The protection granted by Article 6ter is also 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.

Pursuant to Article 6ter, Members of either or both the Paris Union and the WTO shall refuse or invalidate the registration, and prohibit by appropriate measures the use, without authorization by the competent authorities, either as trademarks or as elements of trademarks, of armorial bearings, flags, and other State emblems of these Members, official signs and hallmarks indicating control and warranty adopted by them, and any imitation from a heraldic point of view.

The protection offered by Article 6ter to any emblem or other official sign mentioned above, communicated to the International Bureau of WIPO and which has not been the subject of an objection, is not of a general nature. The purpose of Article 6ter is only to prohibit the registration and use of trademarks which are identical to, or present a certain similarity with, the above-mentioned emblems or official signs.

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 have been the subject of communications by the International Bureau of WIPO to the States party to the Paris Convention, are available for searching, displaying and printing of documents (text and images) in: