There are six principles for the international protection of intellectual property rights. The following mainly discusses three of them:
1. The principle of independent protection
The principle of independent protection means that for the protection of intellectual property rights, the contracting parties do not affect each other. Whether a country protects a certain intellectual achievement does not depend on whether other contracting parties protect it, nor is it based on whether other contracting parties protect it. As long as the conditions stipulated in its national law are met, it should be protected, or refused to protect it. The principle of independent protection means that the creation, invalidation or termination of intellectual property rights in a member state does not necessarily lead to the creation, invalidation or termination of the intellectual property rights in other member states.
2. The principle of automatic protection
The principle of automatic protection is proposed in the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and is only applicable to the protection of copyright. The principle of automatic protection means that when an author enjoys and exercises the copyright enjoyed by the nationals of a member state, he does not need to go through any procedures. As long as the creation of the work is completed, the copyright is obtained.
3. Principle of priority
The principle of priority means that an applicant who files an application for invention patent, utility model, design or trademark registration in one contracting party and then files an application for the same content in another contracting party within the prescribed period can enjoy the right of priority in the application date. That is, the date of the first application to a contracting party can be regarded as the actual date of application to other contracting parties. The time limit for enjoying priority depends on different industrial property rights. For inventions and utility models, it is 12 months from the date of the first application to a contracting party, and for designs and trademarks, it is 6 months. Priority is one of the most important rights granted to nationals of contracting parties by the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, and it is affirmed by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.