THE SHIELD AND THE

SWORD: The Intellectual

Property Code in Cohort
with the International
Treaties
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE
REQUIREMENTS OF INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY LAW

Submitted By: Rommelito Francisco E.
Macarayo, AUF JD2

Submitted To: Attorney John Paul M. Gaba,
IPL Professor
August 3, 2013
In the hands of the altruistic, the law becomes a shield to defend the oppressed and a sword to slay the
evildoers.
- Anonymous -
In a general sense, the law acts as both a sword and a shield. As a shield, the law protects those whose
rights are oppressed and upholds the integrity of the law towards would-be abusers. As a sword, the law
prosecutes the violators and abusers that prey upon the masses, making sure that no one escapes the long arm of
the law inasmuch as possible. The Intellectual Property Code (IPC)
1
acts in the same way, protecting and
investing in the rights of inventors and artists while providing a delicate balance of upholding justice whenever
there would be disputes regards ownership of ideas and creativity. It also prosecutes those who would want to
take unfair advantage of the original ideas of others towards their own benefit.
The IPC has gotten more support in the legal aspect by the International Treaties that our Philippine
Government has signed. Because of these international treaties, there is a broader scope of protection and
prosecution for everyone to take advantage of.
The Berne
2
, Paris
3
, and Rome
4
Conventions all have that aspect of greater protection towards the
artists, performers, and industrial property owners. They provide an all-encompassing shield of international
scope towards the works and products of musicians, artists, performers, and industrial property owners; which
creates a better transition of rights and procedures towards exporting their works and products overseas while
being shielded from potentially-potestative obligations & actions that will hinder the profitability or originality
of the work and/or product. Much like the Intellectual Property code protects our local artists, inventors, and
creators, these international treaties serve to protect also their works on a global scale for those countries who
signed also with the treaties.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
5
is created in order to be the bastion for the
protection of intellectual property in an international scale. For countries that are part of the WIPO, it serves as
the international standard for IP law and the newest developments & progressions of the IP law for every
convention held. The WIPO also makes sure that all national legislations regarding the protection of intellectual
property are harmonized with each other. Not only that, they also seek to foster further research & development
of the IP law in order to ensure that the IP laws of the countries involved stay open for improvement. Since our
country is part of the WIPO, this certifies that we are up-to-date towards new developments in the IP realm of
law in a global aspect and we remain compliant with the latest progressions in IP law.
The Budapest Treaty
6
of 1981 deals with the international recognition of the deposit of microorganisms
for the purpose of patent procedure. Since microorganisms require highly specialized means of transportation
and storage in order to avoid contamination and reactions, this treaty proposes one international depository

1
"R.A. 8293 AN ACT PRESCRIBING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CODE AND ESTABLISHING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE,
PROVIDING FOR ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."Lawphil.net. Arellano Law Foundaton, n.d. Web. 19 July
2013.
2
"Berne Conventon for the Protecton of Literary and Artstc Works." Berne Conventon for the Protecton of Literary and Artstc
Works. World Intellectual Property Organizaton, n.d. Web. 19 July 2013.
3
"Paris Conventon for the Protecton of Industrial Property." Paris Conventon for the Protecton of Industrial Property. World
Intellectual Property Organizaton, n.d. Web. 19 July 2013.
4
"Summary of the Rome Conventon for the Protecton of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcastng Organisatons
(1961)." Treates and Contractng Partes: Rome Conventon. World Intellectual Property Organizaton, n.d. Web. 19 July 2013.
5
"About World Intellectual Property Organizaton." Wipo.int. World Intellectual Property Organizaton, n.d. Web. 19 July 2013.
6
"Budapest Notfcaton No. 15 Budapest Treaty on the Internatonal Recogniton of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes
of Patent Procedure." TREATY/BUDAPEST/15: *Budapest Treaty+ Communicaton of Japan Relatng to the Acquisiton of the Status of
Internatonal Depositary Authority by the Fermentaton Research Insttute. World Intellectual Property Organizaton, n.d. Web. 02
Aug. 2013.
authority regardless of territory in order to prevent costly reoccurrence of storage and transportation (saving
funds in the process) and to provide a one single depository for the benefit of all those who would want to
reproduce the microorganism or have it protected under the IDA. Similar to what the IP code provides for
everyone in the Philippines, both the Budapest Treaty and IP code aim to make all things efficient and
economically-sound so that investors and inventors will be further motivated to align their resources to our
country.
The WTO (World Trade Organization)
7
agreements encompass services, goods, and intellectual
property while having emphasis on the principles of liberalization (with the permitted exceptions). These
include the different commitments of various countries to lower their customs tariffs and other barriers of trade,
and to open and remain open markets of services. Settling disputes using the proper procedure is also included.
Moreover, there are also provisions that help aid developing countries in furthering their economic trade.
Transparency of trade policies made by the various countries respective government for overseeing their
compliance with the WTO agreements is also enforced.
For the goods aspect, the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades)
8
contains the provisions
and topics of various countries who have participated in the creation of the agreement. Such areas of concern
that are present in the GATT are agriculture, textiles, product standards, anti-dumping measures, methods for
customs valuation, safeguards, and others. For the service aspect, we have the GATS (General Agreement on
Trade in Services)
9
that primarily deals with the movement of natural persons, air transport, financial services,
shipping, and telecommunications. Both goods and services have now the benefit of having more freedom to
conduct their businesses without fearing unfair costs in trade services and tariffs because of the aforementioned
agreements. For the intellectual property aspect, we have the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspect of Intellectual
Property Rights) Agreement
10
that sets down the baseline standards for many forms of IP regulation as applied
and enforced to WTO members while having dispute procedures and promotion of disseminated information for
all.
The IP code is congruent with the WTOs objectives plus its GATT, GATS, and TRIPS agreements since
all of them have a protective and promoting attribute. These have protective attributes in the sense that they aim
to shield the original ideas of people with goods, services, and intellectual properties by providing dispute
resolution proceedings. Furthermore, the promoting attributes can be seen by the incentive of the WTO in
lowering tariffs and customs expenses for the participating countries and the special procedures that they have
for developing countries to progress further with their assistance.
The PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty)
11
provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to
protect inventions in each of its contracting states
12
. Since there is uniformity, it helps in avoiding the usual
confusions and legal impediments when patenting an invention that has a conflict with another. Much like in the
IP code where most of the steps needed to protect an idea or an invention, everything follows a strict procedure
to the letter in order to make sure everything is organized and legal. Uniformity is important in the easier
compliance of the masses for having the IP codes cloth of protection.

7
"WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION." WTO. World Trade Organizaton, n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2013
8
"General Agreement on Tarifs and Trades." WTO. World Trade Organizaton, n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2013.
9
"General Agreement of Trade in Services." WTO. World Trade Organizaton, n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2013.
10
"WTO | Intellectual Property (TRIPS) - Agreement Text - Contents." WTO | Intellectual Property (TRIPS) - Agreement Text - Contents.
World Trade Organizaton, n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2013.
11
"Patent Cooperaton Treaty." PCT Resources. World Intellectual Property Organizaton, n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2013.
12
Cees Mulder, The Cross-Referenced Patent Cooperaton Treaty, updated yearly, Helze Publisher.
The WIPO Internet Treaties
13
are further copyright protection granted towards performers, phonogram
producers, literary works, broadcasters, and those with similar profession. These treaties do not grant rights
automatically, but require the participating countries to grant certain rights towards the aforementioned on a
nondiscriminatory basis. Much like a shield, the IP code also provides equal protection towards the innovators
and the distributors by affording them specific rights and privileges that both parties can use to their advantage.
All of the aforementioned international treaties only serve to sharpen the sword and toughen the shield
of the IP code towards its constituents by broadening its perspective not only in the local realm, but in the
international scale as well. As a law student, we must always be armed to the teeth with knowledge if we are to
fully use the IP code and its international treaties towards both protecting our future clients and prosecuting
those would-be violators of intellectual rights!



13
"WIPO Internet Treates." Natonal Seminar on the WIPO Internet Treates and the Digital Technology. World Intellectual Property
Organizaton, n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2013.