The international registration system established according to The Hague Agreement on International Registration of Industrial Designs managed by the World Intellectual Property Organization is called The Hague System. The Hague system provides a practical commercial solution, with as many as 100 designs registered at one time in 66 countries and regions, and only one international application.
In short, The Hague Agreement provides the possibility of obtaining industrial design protection in several contracting parties by submitting a separate international application to the WIPO International Bureau in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Hague system currently has 66 member countries:
African Intellectual Property Organization, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cambodia, C? te d 'Ivoire, Croatia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, EU, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iceland. Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mali, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, Niger, Norway, Oman, Poland, Korea, Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Step 2 apply for qualification
Not everyone can file an international application according to The Hague Agreement. To be eligible for such an application, the applicant must meet at least one of the following conditions:
A national of a Contracting Party or a member of an intergovernmental organization that is a Contracting Party (such as the European Intellectual Property Office or the African Intellectual Property Organization);
Having a domicile in the territory of the Contracting Party;
C it has a real and effective industrial and commercial organization within the territory of the contracting party.
3. Application and protection procedures
International applications must be submitted directly or indirectly to WIPO in English, French or Spanish, and the protected parties must be specified. An international application can contain as many as 100 different designs. However, all designs must belong to the same category of the International Industrial Design Classification (Locarno Classification).
After receiving an international application, the International Bureau will examine whether the application meets the prescribed formal requirements. If there are any defects, the applicant will be informed, and these defects must be corrected within the prescribed three months, otherwise the international application will be regarded as abandoned. If there are no defects and meet the requirements of the situation, the International Bureau will register in the international register and publish the corresponding registration in the international design bulletin. The announcement will be issued six months after the date of international registration.
After the announcement is published on WIPO's website, the competent authority of each designated contracting party must make a decision of authorization or rejection according to its domestic law. If the competent authority finds no reason for rejection, it shall issue a protection statement; If the reasons for rejection exist, a notice of rejection shall be issued, and the applicant may reply to the competent authority according to state regulations after receiving the notice of rejection. Please note that the procedure after rejection is only conducted at the national level, and the International Bureau does not participate in this procedure.
The first phase of international appearance registration is valid for five years and can be renewed for another five years. In each designated contracting party, the shortest protection period shall be 15 years, and the longest protection period allowed by the respective laws of these contracting parties shall expire.
Four. Benefits of The Hague System
In the traditional way of the Paris Convention, if you want to apply for a design patent in various countries, you need to submit it to the patent offices of various countries, involving multiple languages and paying multiple currencies, and finally get registered in many countries. If you want to extend the protection period of the appearance, or change the registered appearance, you need to submit it to the patent offices of several countries respectively. When handling the above affairs, you need to hire an agent in this country before submitting the application for appearance registration.
The main advantage of The Hague system is that the applicant can simply, economically and once obtain the protection of industrial designs in many contracting States. Especially through the Hague system, international applications can be submitted to the WIPO International Bureau in one language (English, French or Spanish), and a set of fees can be paid in one currency (Swiss francs), thus obtaining equal protection in designated contracting parties. Applicants do not need to apply to each country in several languages, thus avoiding all kinds of inconvenience caused by different procedures and languages in different countries.
The Hague system can also avoid constantly monitoring the renewal of a series of national registrations. In addition, it can avoid paying a series of fees in different currencies.
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