Intellectual property is all around us – it is the result of our creative activities. Intellectual property is divided into industrial property rights, and copyright and related rights. Industrial property rights must be applied for at the Patent Office, i.e. your trade mark, invention and design must be registered. Copyright arises automatically with the creation of a work of literature, art and science, it cannot be registered separately – and is not necessary in Estonia.
Acts
1992 The Constitution of the Republic of Estonia
1992 Trade Marks Act
1992 Copyright Act
1994 Patent Act
1994 Utility Model Act
1997 Industrial Design Protection Act
1998 Act on the Protection of Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits
1999 Geographical Indication Protection Act
2002 Penal Code
2002 Act on implementing the Convention on the Grant of European Patents
2002 Customs Code (unlawful carriage of goods over the customs frontier)
2004 Customs Act
2004 Principles of Legal Regulation of Industrial Property Act
Accession of the Republic of Estonia to multilateral international treaties in the field of industrial property, which are administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization
| Treaty | Estonia acceded |
|---|---|
| Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883) | 12 February 1924 |
| Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Stockholm Act, 1967) Remark. The Republic of Estonia acceded the Paris Convention (Washington Act, 1911) with effect from 12 February 1924. Estonia lost its independence on August 6, 1940 and regained it on August 20, 1991. Source: WIPO publication No 423 of 5 November 1998. |
24 August 1994 (re-acceded) |
| The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886) | 9 June 1927 |
| The Paris redaction for The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works on 24 July 1971 (amended on September 28, 1979). Remark. The Republic of Estonia acceded to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works in 1927 (Berlin Act of 1908). Estonia lost its independence on August 6, 1940, and regained it on August 20, 1991. Source: WIPO Lex database |
26 October 1994 (re-acceded) |
| Convention on Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (Stockholm, 1967) | 5 February 1994 |
| Patent Cooperation Treaty (Washington, 1970) | 24 August 1994 |
| Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of Registration of Marks (1957) | 27 May 1996 |
| Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Microorganisms for the purpose of Patent Procedure (1977) | 14 September 1996 |
| Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs (1968) | 31 October 1996 |
| Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification (1971) | 27 February 1997 |
| WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT, 1996) | Entered into force on 2010 |
| Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (1989) | 18 November 1998 |
| Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations | 28 April 2000 |
| Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms | 28 May 2000 |
| International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants | 24 September 2000 |
| Trademark Law Treaty (1994) | 7 January 2003 |
| Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Design (1999) | 23 December 2003 |
| Patent Law Treaty (2000) | 28 April 2005 |
| Nairobi Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol | 30 June 2006 |
| Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks (2006) | 14 August 2009 |
| WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT, 1996) | 14 March 2010 |
