Transcript General Overview of the Hague System Purpose of the the Hague Agreement • The Hague Agreement is an international registration system which offers.

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 Act
of 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 d’Ivoire, 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 applicant’s 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 WIPO’s 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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Int. Reg. in 2005 by country of origin
Switzerland
22.9%
Germany
15%
France
10.1%
Benelux
9.6%
Italy
8.3%
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
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Most designated countries in 2005
Switzerland
Italy
Germany
Benelux
France
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
4
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 »
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6 % in Class 23
« Fluid Distribution or Heating Equipment »
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5 % in Class 11
« Articles of Adornment »
DM/059830 - 9
26
4 % in Class 14
« Recording, communication or information
retrieval equipment »
DM/059830 - 9
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3 % in Classes 2 and 26
« Articles of Clothing » and
« Lighting Apparatus »
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