The Hague Agreement concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs, also known as the Hague system provides a mechanism for registering an industrial design in several countries by means of a single application, filed in one language, with one set of fees. The system is administered by WIPO.
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History
The Hague Agreement consists of several separate treaties[1], the most important of which are: the London Act of June 2, 1934[2], the Hague Act of November 28, 1960[3], and the Geneva Act of July 2, 1999[4].
Countries can sign up to any one, two or all three Acts of the Agreement. If a country signs up to only one Act, then applicants from that country can only use the Hague system to obtain protection for their designs in other countries which signed up to the same Act. So, for instance, because the European Community has only signed up to the 1999 (Geneva) Act, applicants which qualify to use the Hague system because their domicile is in the European Community, can only designate in their applications countries which have also signed up to the 1999 Act (i.e. the 1999 Act only, or both the 1999 and 1960 Acts, or both the 1999 and 1934 Acts, or all three Acts).
Contracting Parties (member countries)
A list of the Contracting Parties is maintained by WIPO.
Qualification to use the Hague system
Applicants can qualify to use the Hague system on the basis of any of the following criteria:
- the applicant is a national of a Contracting Party (i.e. member country)
- the applicant is domiciled in a Contracting Party
- the applicant has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in a Contracting Party
- the applicant has its habitual residence in a Contracting Party (only available if the Contracting Party in question has adhered to the 1999 (Geneva) Act)
An applicant who does not qualify under one of these headings cannot avail of the Hague system. The Contracting Parties include not only individual countries, but also international organisations such as the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) and the European Community, so that the applicant may be resident in a country such as the United Kingdom which is not itself a Contracting Party but which is part of an international organisation which is a Contracting Party.
Application requirements
An application may be filed in English or French, at the choice of the applicant. It must contain a reproduction of the designs concerned, and can include up to 100 different designs, provided that these are all in the same class of the International Classification of Industrial Designs (the Locarno Classification).
The application is subject to the payment of three types of fees, namely a basic fee, a publication fee, and a designation fee for each designated Contracting party.
Examination and registration procedure
The application is examined for formal requirements by the International Bureau of WIPO, which provides the applicant with the opportunity to correct certain defects in the application. Once the formal requirements have been met, it is recorded in the International Register and details are published electronically on the WIPO website.
If any designated Contracting Party considers that a design, which has been registered in respect of that Contracting Party, does not meet its own domestic criteria for registrability (e.g. it finds that the design is not novel), it must notify the International Bureau that it is refusing the registration for that Contracting Party. If no refusal is issued, then the International Registration takes effect and provides the same protection as if the design(s) had been registered under the domestic law of that Contracting Party.
Duration & renewal
The duration of an international registration is five years, extendable in further five-year periods up to the maximum duration permitted by each contracting party.
Renewals are handled centrally by the International Bureau. The applicant pays the relevant fees and notifies the International Bureau of the countries for which the registration is to be renewed.
External links
- World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) information on Hague Agreement
- List of the Contracting Parties
References
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