Is membership in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property required for other special agreements such as PCT?
<p>I am currently studying for an exam in intellectual property rights and read that the <em>Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property</em> is a umbrella agreement, whereas agreements such as PCT (<em>Patent Cooperation Treaty</em>) or MMA (<em>Madrid system for the international registration of marks</em>) are special agreements (within the umbrella).</p>

<p>Therefore I wonder if <strong>membership in the <em>Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property</em> is a requirement for any of the before mentioned special agreements and if not why</strong>?</p>

<p>Special agreements are mentioned in <a href="http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/treaties/text.jsp?file_id=288514#P361_57002" rel="nofollow">Art. 19 of the Paris Convention</a>.</p>

<p>For the PCT, yes. Under Article 62 (<a href="http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/treaties/text.jsp?file_id=288637" rel="nofollow">PDF</a>, pg. 47):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(1) Any State member of the International Union for the Protection of
  Industrial Property may become party to this Treaty [...]</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For the Madrid Agreement, yes. Under <a href="http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/treaties/text.jsp?file_id=283530#a14" rel="nofollow">Article 14</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(2)(a) Any country outside the Special Union which is party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property may accede to this Act and thereby become a member of the Special Union.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For the Berne Convention, no. I don't see a reason either, as the Berne Convention deals with copyright, while the Paris Convention deals with most other forms of IP. Under <a href="http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/treaties/text.jsp?file_id=283698#P354_63790" rel="nofollow">Article 29</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(1) Any country outside the Union may accede to this Act and thereby become party to this Convention and a member of the Union. [...]</p>
</blockquote>

intellectual-property international