Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs

Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs

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  Hague Union State, Party to 1934 London Act
  Hague Union State, Party to 1960 Hague Act
  Hague Union State, Parties to 1999 Geneva Act
  covered by REIO, not separate member
  Hague Union State, also covered by REIO
Signed 6 November 1925 (The Hague Agreement)
2 June 1934 (London act)
14 July 1967 (The Hague Act/Stockholm addnl Act)
2 July 1999 (Geneva Act)
Location The Hague
Effective 1 June 1928
Parties 64[1]
Depositary Switzerland (1925/1934)
Netherlands (1960)
WIPO

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.

Instruments

The Hague Agreement consists of several separate treaties,[2] the most important of which are: the Hague Agreement of 1925, the London Act of 2 June 1934,[3] the Hague Act of 28 November 1960 (amended by the Stockholm Act),[4] and the Geneva Act of 2 July 1999.[5]

The original version of the Agreement (the 1925 Hague version) is no longer applied, since all states parties signed up to subsequent instruments. The 1934 London Act formally still applies between a London act state that did not sign up to the Hague and/or Geneva Act in relation with other London act states (Suriname and Benin in relation to the other London states). Since 1 January 2010, however, the application of this act is frozen and it will formally seize to be in force by October 2016 following notifications of all contracting parties.

Countries can become a party to the 1960 (Hague) Act, the 1999 (Geneva) Act, or both. 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 are signed up to the same Act. For instance, because the European Union has only signed up to the 1999 (Geneva) Act, applicants which qualify to use the Hague system because their domicile is in the European Union can only get protection in countries which have also signed up to the 1999 Act or to both the 1999 and 1960 Acts.

Contracting Parties (member countries)

All contracting parties to one or more of the instruments of the Hague Agreement are members of the Hague Union. A list is shown below:

Code[lower-alpha 1] Member The Hague 1925 London 1934 The Hague 1960 Stockholm 1967 Geneva 1999 territorial scope
OA   OAPI 16 September 2008
AL  Albania 19 March 2007 19 March 2007 19 March 2007
AM  Armenia 13 July 2007
AZ  Azerbaijan 8 December 2010
BX  Belgium 27 July 1929-
1 January 1975 		24 November 1939-
1 January 1975 		1 August 1984[lower-alpha 2] 28 May 1997[lower-alpha 2] Territory also covered by EM
BZ  Belize 12 July 2003 12 July 2003
BJ  Benin 2 November 1986 2 November 1986 2 January 1987 Territory also covered by OA
BA  Bosnia and Herzegovina 24 December 2008
BW  Botswana 5 December 2006
BN  Brunei Darussalam 24 December 2013
CI  Cote d'Ivoire 30 May 1993 30 May 1993 30 May 1993 Territory also covered by OA
HR  Croatia 12 February 2004 12 February 2004 12 April 2004 Territory also covered by EM
DK  Denmark 9 December 2008 Territory also covered by EM
incl. Greenland (2011)
 Faroe Islands (2016)
--  East Germany 1949-
3 October 1990 		7 May 1989-
3 October 1990 		7 May 1989-
3 October 1990
EG  Egypt 1 July 1952 27 August 2004
EE  Estonia 23 December 2012 Territory also covered by EM
EM  European Union 1 January 2008
FI  Finland 1 May 2011 Territory also covered by EM
FR  France 20 October 1930 25 June 1939 1 August 1984 27 September 1975 18 March 2007 Territory also covered by EM
Including all territories
GA  Gabon 18 August 2003 18 August 2003 Territory also covered by OA
DE  Germany 1 June 1928 13 June 1939 1 August 1984 27 September 1975 13 February 2010 Territory also covered by EM
Stockholm and Hague act: Including "Land Berlin
GE  Georgia 1 August 2003 1 August 2003 23 December 2003
GH  Ghana 16 September 2008
GR  Greece 18 April 1997 18 April 1997 Territory also covered by EM
HU  Hungary 7 April 1984-
1 February 2005 		1 August 1984 7 April 1984 1 May 2004 Territory also covered by EM
IS  Iceland 23 December 2003
ID  Indonesia 27 December 1949-
3 June 2010
IT  Italy 13 June 1997 13 August 1987 Territory also covered by EM
JP  Japan 13 May 2015
KG  Kyrgyzstan 17 March 2003 17 March 2003 23 December 2003
LV  Latvia 26 July 2005 Territory also covered by EM
LI  Liechtenstein 14 July 1933 28 January 1951 1 August 1984 27 September 1975 23 December 2003
LT  Lithuania 26 September 2008 Territory also covered by EM
BX  Luxembourg 1 August 1984[lower-alpha 2] 28 May 1979[lower-alpha 2] Territory also covered by EM
MK  Macedonia 18 March 1997 18 March 1997 22 March 2006
ML  Mali 7 September 2006 7 September 2006 Territory also covered by OA
MD  Moldova 14 March 1994 14 March 1994 23 December 2003
MC  Monaco 29 April 1956 1 August 1984 27 September 1975 9 June 2011
MN  Mongolia 12 April 1997 12 April 1997 19 January 2008
ME  Montenegro 3 June 2006 3 June 2006 5 March 2012 succession from Serbia and Montenegro
MA  Morocco 20 October 1930 21 January 1941 13 October 1999 12 October 1999
NA  Namibia 13 June 2004
BX  Netherlands 1 June 1928-
1 January 1975 		5 August 1948-
1 January 1975 		1 August 1984[lower-alpha 2] 28 June 1979[lower-alpha 2] Territory also covered by EM
London Act incl Dutch East Indies (-1950), Suriname (-1975), Netherlands Antilles (-2010), Aruba (1986-2011), Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Caribbean Netherlands (2010-2011)
NE  Niger 20 September 2004 20 September 2004 Territory also covered by OA
KP  North Korea 27 May 1992 27 May 1992 13 September 2016
NO  Norway 17 June 2010
OM  Oman 4 March 2009
PL  Poland 2 July 2009 Territory also covered by EM
RO  Romania 18 July 1992 18 July 1992 23 December 2003 Territory also covered by EM
RW  Rwanda 31 August 2011
ST  Sao Tome and Principe 8 December 2008
SN  Senegal 30 June 1984 1 August 1984 30 June 1984 Territory also covered by OA
RS  Serbia 30 December 1993 30 December 1993 9 December 2009
SG  Singapore 17 December 2005
SI  Slovenia 13 January 1995 13 January 1995 23 December 2003 Territory also covered by EM
KR  South Korea 1 July 2014
ES  Spain 1 June 1928 2 March 1956 23 December 2003 Territory also covered by EM
Hague agreement and London Act: Including Spanish Morocco (-1956) and Colonies (1947-1975)
SR  Suriname 25 November 1975 1 August 1984 23 February 1977
CH   Switzerland1 June 1928 24 November 1939-
19 November 2010 		1 August 1984 27 September 197523 December 2003
SY  Syria 7 May 2008
TJ  Tajikistan 21 March 2012
--   Tangier 6 March 1936-
1956 		13 June 1939-
1956 		now part of Morocco
TN  Tunisia20 October 1930 4 October 1942 13 June 2012
TR  Turkey 1 January 2005
TM  Turkmenistan 16 March 2016
UA  Ukraine 28 August 2002 28 August 2002 23 December 2003
US  United States 13 May 2015
VA   Vatican 29 June 1960-
4 August 2007
Notes
  1. ↑ Code used in the context of the Hague Agreement
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Benelux countries form a single territory for application of this act

A list of the Contracting Parties is maintained by WIPO.

Use of the system

Qualification to use the Hague system

Applicants can qualify to use the Hague system on the basis of any of the following criteria:

An applicant who does not qualify under one of these headings cannot use the Hague system. The Contracting Parties include not only individual countries, but also intergovernmental organisations such as the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) and the European Union. This means an applicant domiciled in an EU member country that is not a Contracting Party, such as Austria or the United Kingdom, can nevertheless use the Hague system on the basis of his or her domicile in the European Union.

Application requirements

An application may be filed in English, French, or Spanish, at the choice of the applicant. The application must contain one or more views of the designs concerned and can include up to 100 different designs provided that the designs are all in the same class of the International Classification of Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification).

The application fee is composed of three types of fees: 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 irregularities in the application. Once the formal requirements have been met, it is recorded in the International Register and details are published electronically in the International Designs Bulletin on the WIPO website.

If any designated Contracting Party considers that a design which has been registered for protection in that Contracting Party does not meet its domestic criteria for registrability (e.g. it finds that the design is not novel), it must notify the International Bureau that it refuses the registration for that Contracting Party. In every Contracting Party that does not issue such a refusal, 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. For the 1934 London Act the maximum term was 15 years.

Renewals are handled centrally by the International Bureau. The applicant pays a renewal fee and notifies the International Bureau of the countries for which the registration is to be renewed.

Naming

The agreement was concluded at the Dutch city The Hague.

References

  1. ↑ Party to any of the treaties
  2. ↑ Full texts of the Hague Agreement, Regulations and Administrative Instructions. WIPO
  3. ↑ London Act of the Hague Agreement. WIPO
  4. ↑ Hague Act of the Hague Agreement. WIPO
  5. ↑ Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement. WIPO

External links

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