General Overview of the Hague System

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General Overview of the Hague System
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Purpose of the the Hague Agreement

• The Hague Agreement is an international
  registration system which offers the possibility
  of requesting protection for industrial designs
  in several countries, by means of a single
  international application filed with the
  International Bureau of WIPO.
• Under the Hague system, therefore, a single
  international application replaces a whole series
  of national applications which, otherwise, should
  have been effected at the national level with
  different national Offices.

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The Hague Agreement

• Participation of a Contracting Party to the Hague
  system may be achieved through an accession
• to the 1934 Act, and/or
• to the 1960 Act, and/or
• to the 1999 Act
• The 1999 Act entered into force on December 2003
  and comprises 19 countries at present.

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Why the Geneva (1999) Act of The Hague Agreement?

• The Geneva Act of 1999 has a twofold objective,
  namely
• On the one hand, to extend the Hague system to
  new members to do that, the Geneva Act has
  introduced a certain number of features into the
  Hague system with a view to allowing or
  facilitating the accession of new Contracting
  Parties.
• On the other hand, to provide for the
  establishment of a link between the international
  registration system and regional systems, by
  providing that intergovernmental organizations
  may become party to the Act.

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Hague Membership (42)
Geneva Act (1999) Hague Act (1960) London Act
(1934)
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Hague Union Members (42)
Grouped according to the most recent Actof which
each State is Member Geneva Act (1999)
Croatia, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary,
Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein,
Namibia, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Singapore,
Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, The former Y.R. of
Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine (19) Hague Act
(1960) Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bulgaria,Côte
dIvoire, D.P.R. of Korea, France, Gabon,
Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco,
Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Niger, Senegal,
Serbia and Montenegro, Suriname (20) London Act
(1934) Holy See, Indonesia, Tunisia (3)
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Basic features of the Hague System (1)

• Closed system
• 1) Entitlement to use the Hague System need of
  an entitlement with a Contracting Party
• either nationality
• or domicile
• or habitual residence
• or real and effective industrial or commercial
  establishment.
• 2) Only Contracting Parties bound by the Hague
  Agreement may be designated. (Protection in third
  countries may be obtained only by way of national
  or regional applications filed individually with
  the Office of each country in question).

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Basic features of the Hague System (2)

• An international application does not require any
  prior national deposit. A design may be deposited
  and protected for the first time at the
  international level through the Hague Agreement.
• An international application is normally sent
  directly to the International Bureau of WIPO by
  the applicant.
• An international application may be filed in
  either English or French (at the applicants
  choice).

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Contents of the International Application

• A single international application may comprise
  several different designs (multiple
  application), up to a maximum of 100
• All designs included in an application must
  belong to the same class of the international
  classification of Locarno the international
  application is therefore monoclass
• The international application must contain, inter
  alia, a reproduction of the designs together with
  the designation of Contracting Parties where
  protection is sought.

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Cost of an International Application

• An international application is the subject of
  three sets of fees
• a basic fee (397 CHF for the first design and
  19 CHF for each additional design)
• a publication fee (12 or 75 CHF, depending on
  whether the reproduction is in black and white or
  in colour)
• a designation fee for each designated
  Contracting Party (42 CHF for the first design
  and 2 CHF for each additional design) OR an
  Individual Fee

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Examination as to the form by the International
Bureau

• When the International Bureau receives an
  international application, it checks that it
  complies with the prescribed formal requirements.
• Being solely a formal examination, the
  International Bureau of WIPO does not appraise in
  any way the novelty of the designs and is
  therefore not entitled to reject an application
  on this ground.

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Publication

• An application complying with the prescribed
  formal requirements is registered by the
  International Bureau and such registration is
  published in the International Designs Bulletin.
• This Bulletin is published electronically, on
  WIPOs Internet site.
• Publication of registrations in this Bulletin
  takes the place of national publication

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Examination as to the Substance by each
Designated Office Possibility of Refusal (1)

• Upon publication of the Bulletin, each Office
  must identify the international registrations in
  which it is designated in order to proceed to the
  substantive examination provided for by its own
  legislation.
• Following such examination. Each Office has the
  right to refuse protection, in its territory, to
  an international design, if it does not fulfil
  the conditions of protection provided for by its
  national legislation. (However, a refusal may
  not be based on the ground of non-compliance with
  formal requirements, since such requirements must
  be considered as already having been satisfied
  following the examination carried out by the
  International Bureau).

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Examination as to the Substance by each
Designated Office Possibility of Refusal (2)

• A refusal of protection must be notified to the
  International Bureau within six months from the
  date of publication.
• In the event of refusal, the holder has the same
  remedies against the decision of refusal as he
  would have had if he had applied for the design
  in question directly with the national Office
  concerned.
• If no refusal is notified within the six month
  time limit by the Office, it automatically
  follows that the international registration
  enjoys protection in the country concerned.

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Protection Governed by Domestic Law

• The system of international registration of
  designs is a purely procedural treaty. It does
  not
• - determine the conditions for protecting a
  design
• - determine the procedure to be applied in
  order to decide
• whether a design may be protected
• - determine the rights which result from
  protection.
• All these questions are governed by the domestic
  legislation of each designated country.

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Modifications

• Changes concerning an international registration
  (for example change in ownership, change of
  name or address of the holder, etc.) may be
  recorded in the International Bulletin and have
  effect in all or some only of the designated
  Contracting Parties, by means of a single request
  presented to the International Bureau.

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Duration

• International registrations are valid for an
  initial period of five years. They can be
  renewed for two additional periods of five years
  (i.e., a minimum period of protection of 15
  years).
• Furthermore, if the domestic legislation of a
  Contracting Party allows a term of protection of
  more than 15 years, then the international
  registration may be renewed in respect of that
  Contracting Party for additional periods of five
  years, up to the expiry of the total term of
  protection allowed for such national
  registrations.

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3
19
4
20
22 Class 10  Measuring Instruments 
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9 in Class 6  Furnishing 
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9 in Class 9  Packaging and Containers 
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7 in Class 12  Means of Transport 
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6 in Class 7  Household Goods 
25
6 in Class 23  Fluid Distribution or Heating
Equipment 
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5 in Class 11  Articles of Adornment 
27
4 in Class 14  Recording, communication or
information retrieval equipment 
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3 in Classes 2 and 26 Articles of Clothing
and Lighting Apparatus