Albania joined Locarno and Vienna Agreements

Albania has become the latest contracting party to the Locarno and Vienna Agreements, having officially acceded to both of them on October 16, 2018. The agreements entered into force in Albania on January 16, 2019, and are set to provide applicants with all the benefits guaranteed by both conventions.

The Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs was concluded in 1968 and is available to contracting parties of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. The classification constitutes classes and subclasses of goods which appearance may be registered as a design. Albania is the first country to have acceded to the Locarno agreement since July 2018, when the agreement entered into force in Iran.

Similarly, the Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks was concluded in 1973. The agreement determines a classification for marks consisting of figurative elements and is again open to contracting states of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Albania marks the first country to have entered into the Vienna agreement since the United Kingdom’s accession in 2013.