The international agreement that sets minimum standards for intellectual property protection is the TRIPS Agreement.
TRIPS stands for the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. It was negotiated during the 1986–1994 Uruguay Round and became effective on January 1, 1995, as Annex 1C to the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization. It brought intellectual-property rules into the multilateral trading system.
The agreement covers copyright, trademarks, patents, geographical indications, industrial designs, integrated-circuit layouts, plant varieties, and undisclosed information such as trade secrets. It also requires members to provide enforcement procedures and remedies, while allowing countries to choose how they implement the rules domestically.
A common mix-up is confusing TRIPS with the Berne Convention, Paris Convention, or WIPO Copyright Treaty. Those instruments address particular areas of intellectual property, while TRIPS provides a broad WTO framework and incorporates substantive elements of the Berne and Paris conventions. TRIPS sets a floor, not a ceiling: members may adopt stronger protections if they remain consistent with the agreement.