International treaty latest

The IPKat has discovered that the Kingdom of Bahrain became the 136th contracting state of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) when it deposited its instrument of accession at WIPO last December. The PCT enters into force for Bahrain on 18 March 2007. On the same date, the Trademark Law Treaty will enter force there.

Right: the IPKat doesn't know if business methods are patentable in Bahrain, but the Kingdom has invented a Financial Harbour

While on the subject of trade marks, the Republic of Azerbaijan has acceded to the Madrid Protocol, which comes into effect there on 15 April 2007. The Republic of Uzbekistan is denouncing the Madrid Agreement with effect from 1 January 2008 - but don't worry, the Republic remains a member of the Madrid Protocol.

Left: This fine picture turned up when the IPKat conducted a Google search using the terms 'Uzbek' and 'horse'.

Recently the IPKat listed a load of international IP treaties and agreements that the Republic of Montenegro was carrying on with as part of its post-independence legal inheritance from Serbia. Well, one seems to have been accidentally omitted from this list: the Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms. But have no fear: Montenegro has just confirmed that that Convention too remains in force.