Iran has joined two technical treaties under the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to align its patent and trademark classification systems with global standards, a move that still does not place the country within the international copyright protection system.
Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, deposited the documents to join the Vienna and Strasbourg agreements during a meeting with Daren Tang, director general of the WIPO.
“This milestone makes Iran a party to all international IP classification agreements,” the ambassador wrote on X .
According to the post, both sides highlighted the role of intellectual property in national and global development and pledged continued cooperation.
The Vienna and Strasbourg treaties relate only to the classification of trademarks and patents – not copyright protection or enforcement. They do not require Iran to observe international copyright law or join copyright treaties such as the Berne Convention or WIPO Copyright Treaty.
Despite some domestic regulations, copyright enforcement remains minimal in Iran, where counterfeit software, pirated books, and unlicensed music are widespread.
Iran has been a member of WIPO since 2002 but had not previously joined all of its classification frameworks.
Under the new treaties, Iran will use international systems to categorize patents, trademarks, and designs, potentially making administrative processes more compatible with global norms.
Whether this move improves protection for foreign rights holders remains uncertain. International trade associations and brand-protection groups have long cited weak enforcement, counterfeit goods, and bureaucratic hurdles as obstacles to safeguarding intellectual property in Iran.
Another international body, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), last month, declined to remove Iran from its list of high-risk countries for failing to fully accept the body's rules days after Iran's conditional accession to a UN convention against terror financing.
Tehran had sought to exclude support for armed groups opposed to Israel from its observance of the terrorism financing rules.
The WIPO did not immediately respond to an Iran International request for comment.
