On 1 January 1997, there were 161 members. The Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of New Zealand came into operation on 1 May 1998. The purpose of the Agreement and the enabling laws is to give effect to the two mutual recognition principles relating to the sale of goods and the registration of occupations, consistent with the protection of public health and safety and the environment. IP Australia and the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand have agreed on procedures to facilitate registration in either jurisdiction. Applicants for registration will be required to complete an application and submit it, together with the appropriate fees, to the relevant registration authority.
All fees are payable in the currency of the relevant registering authority.
The Paris Convention is concerned with the protection of industrial property, which includes patents, industrial designs and trade marks, and with the repression of unfair competition. In a key provision the convention requires each member country to accord nationals of other member countries the same rights for their industrial property as it accords to its own nationals. It provides a right of priority for applicants for patents, trade marks and designs in any of the member countries deriving from the date of the first application for the invention, trade mark or design concerned in any other member country, provided the subsequent applications are made within a prescribed period after the first application. The convention does not seek to establish a uniform international industrial property system as such, but rather to establish an international framework upon which the national laws of its member countries can be built. The convention is currently the subject of negotiations relating to a proposed revision to help the transfer of patented technology to developing countries.