WANA (Nov 16) – The Islamic Republic of Iran has formally acceded to the Strasbourg Agreement on the International Patent Classification and the Vienna Agreement on the Classification of the Figurative Elements of Trademarks by depositing its instruments of accession with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

 

According to the Ministry of Justice, Iran’s accession documents were submitted by the country’s ambassador and permanent representative to the international organizations in Geneva to WIPO’s Director General, thereby registering Iran as the newest member of these two key international instruments. Ahmad-Ali Mohsenzadeh, acting head of the Intellectual Property Rights Department at the Ministry of Justice, described the accession as “an effective step in strengthening legal diplomacy and ensuring Iran’s active presence in international intellectual property forums.”

 

He noted that the Ministry of Justice, as the chair and secretariat of the National Intellectual Property Policy Council, was responsible for conducting the expert reviews and coordinating the accession bills within the government and parliament. Mohsenzadeh added that joining these two agreements is a continuation of Iran’s previous path in the field of industrial property—including membership in the Paris Convention—and can help strengthen the country’s legal and technical infrastructure in this area.

 

Details of the Two Agreements

The Strasbourg Agreement, concluded in 1971 and in force since 1975, established the International Patent Classification (IPC), a system that organizes technologies into sections, classes, and thematic groups to facilitate the search, registration, and retrieval of patent documents for industrial property offices and users.

 

The Vienna Agreement concerns the classification of the figurative elements of trademarks and requires member countries to include the relevant classification symbols in their registration and renewal documents and notices. Given the increasing complexity of logo designs and the expansion of new technologies in branding, this classification system plays an important role in ensuring clarity and accuracy in the trademark registration process.

 

Significance for Technology and Business Sectors

Officials at the Ministry of Justice emphasize that Iran’s membership in these two international systems marks a significant step in developing the country’s intellectual property infrastructure. This move can help streamline the process of registering and protecting Iranian patents and trademarks globally, enabling technology and business actors to register and pursue their intellectual assets in international markets with greater ease.