Topic: International Intellectual Property Protection
Country: Sweden
Delegate Name: Rafael Paz
School: Grand Rapids City High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Sweden position papers GLIMUN 2017 committees
Swedish law generally provides adequate protection of all property rights, including intellectual property and real property. As a member of the European Union, Sweden adheres to a series of multilateral conventions on industrial, intellectual, and commercial property. These conventions are as follows:
Patents “protection in all areas of technology may be obtained for 20 years. Sweden is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the European Patent Convention of 1973; both entered into force in 1978” Copyrights Sweden is a signatory to various multilateral conventions on the protection of copyrights, including the Berne Convention of 1971, the Rome Convention of 1961, and the WTO's trade related intellectual property (TRIPS) agreement. Swedish copyright law protects computer programs and databases. More recently, Sweden gained notoriety as somewhat of a safe haven for internet piracy, due to rapid internet connection speeds, a lag in implementing EU Directives, and weak enforcement efforts. In 2009, however, Sweden implemented the EU’s Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) 2004/48/EC, and continued to step up its enforcement against internet piracy. The last few years also saw the conviction of the operators behind the Pirate Bay.org, a notorious BitTorrent tracker for illegal file-sharing, and an increase in legal file-sharing. The 2010 appeal trial upheld the guilty verdict, signaling that Sweden is no longer a safe haven for internet piracy. Legislative measures, combined with added resources on the enforcement side and the emergence of successful legal alternatives all contributed to a substantial increase for music and film distribution using legal means since 2010. Moreover, Sweden has set up a Specialist Court for IPR-related cases, which will further increase efficiency by pooling specialist competence. The IP Court, the so-called Patent and Market Court, started operations on September 1, 2016. Trademarks Sweden protects trademarks under a specific trademark act (1960:644) and is a signatory to the 1989 Madrid Protocol. Trade Secrets Proprietary information is protected under Sweden’s patent and copyright laws unless acquired by a government ministry or authority, in which case it may be made available to the public on demand. Designs Sweden is a party to the Paris Convention and the Locarno Agreement and Designs governed by the Swedish Design Protection Act as well as the Council Regulation on Registered and Unregistered Designs. Protection under the Act lasts for renewable terms of one or several five year periods with a total, maximum, protection time of 25 years
Initially, Sweden was regarded as a safe haven for internet users: internet privacy, piracy, etc. However, with all of the advancements and innovations, Sweden feels the need to increase its security in these areas. The reason for this is to limit illegal activity on and off the internet, decreasing corruption levels and ability to take advantage in Sweden.
The situation with International Intellectual Property Protection is a delicate, yet imperative topic. IP, Intellectual Property, is vital to improving economies through the incorporation of medicines, trademarks, and art. IP rights and protections bring restrictions on what information can be accessed and distributed, however it assures security and reducing market shares from competing firms. On the other hand, taking a more open approach will increase the production of creative works without proper certification or licensing, allowing the release of illegitimate products and theft of foreign IP.
Sweden continues to believe that protection is necessary in Intellectual property. Being a signatory to multiple IP conventions, Sweden’s stance remains firm, the protection of rights is essential. We believe information is a powerful tool, however, exposure to dangerous information can bring harmful consequences. Securing property rights decreases the probability of invalid information from being released. In effect, unlicensed information or products will not be approved by the Swedish government. In addition, this provides securing for the growing amount of technology companies: less corruption, falsification, and theft in the IP sector.
Sweden stands with other governments to ensure equal protection and rights of Intellectual property. Appropriate ways to protect IP going forward from Sweden are: The continuation of the various EU intellectual property law. Urges nations who do not follow these similar conventions to adopt these policies. Work to support governments who do not have the guidelines set either through, incentivization, funding , or otherwise. Encourage all nations to adopt guidelines and fully support guidelines established by the WIPO, and substantiates the need for additional reports on such information. Sweden fully believes that if these guidelines are instituted all nations share a bright future as in regards to intellectual property.
Research: https://www.export.gov/article?id=Sweden-Protection-of-Property-Rights http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/profile.jsp?code=SE
