b) Personnel of the Copyright Office and Industrial Property Offices shall, in a holdover capacity,
continue to perform their respective duties and responsibilities to and receive the corresponding
salaries and benefits until the new position structure and staffing pattern of LIPO as instituted by
the Director General of the Office and approved by the President.
c) incumbents whose positions are not included in the organogram of LIPO or who may not be re
appointed shall be deemed redundant. Redundant employees shall be paid severance benefits
consistent with the laws of Liberia. In the case of employees who meet eligibility for retirement,
they shall receive such retirement benefits as provided for under the laws of Liberia; and
d) all existing assets, liabilities and obligations of the two agencies shall be transferred to LIPO.
e) all rights granted by two of the agencies shall be valid until their expiration.
PART V
GENERAL CONDITION AND BASIC PRINCIPLES
Section 8
National Treatment and Most Favored Nation Treatment
§8.1.
National Treatment
a) The Liberia Intellectual Property Office shall accord to the nationals of other Member States,
treatment no less favorable than that it accords to its own nationals with regard to the protection of
intellectual property rights, subject to the exceptions already provided in; respectively, the Paris
Convention of 1967, the Berne Convention of 1971, the Rome Convention or the Treaty on
Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits.
b) As to performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations, this obligation only
applies in respect of the rights provided under this Act. Any Member other than a Liberian availing
itself of the possibilities provided in Article 6 of the Berne Convention of 1971 or paragraph 1(b)
of Article 16 of the Rome Convention shall make a notification as foreseen in those provisions to
the Council for TRIPS.
c) The Liberia Intellectual Property Office may avail itself of the exceptions permitted under
subsection (a) in relation to legal or court and administrative procedures, including the designation
of an address for service or the appointment of an agent within the jurisdiction of LIPO, only
where such exceptions are necessary to secure compliance with laws and regulations which are not
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act and where such practices are not applied in a manner
which would constitute a disguised restriction on trade.
17