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 1960 Hague Act
  Hague Union State, Parties to 1999 Geneva Act
  covered by Regional Economic Integration Organization (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 69[1]
Depositary Switzerland (1925/1934)
Netherlands (1960)
WIPO (1999)

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 applied between a London act state that did not sign up to the Hague and/or Geneva Act in relation with other London act states until October 2016. Since 1 January 2010, however, the application of this act had already been frozen.

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 Japan 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]MemberThe Hague 1925London 1934[lower-alpha 2]The Hague 1960Stockholm 1967Geneva 1999territorial scope
OA  OAPI16 September 2008
AL Albania19 March 200719 March 200719 March 2007
AM Armenia13 July 2007
AZ Azerbaijan8 December 2010
BX Belgium27 July 1929-
1 January 1975		24 November 1939-
1 January 1975		1 August 1984[lower-alpha 3]28 May 1997[lower-alpha 3]18 December 2018[lower-alpha 3]Territory also covered by EM
BZ Belize12 July 200312 July 2003
BJ Benin2 November 1986-
18 October 2016		2 November 19862 January 1987Territory also covered by OA
BA Bosnia and Herzegovina24 December 2008
BW Botswana5 December 2006
BN Brunei Darussalam24 December 2013
CA Canada5 November 2018
KH Cambodia25 February 2017
CI Cote d'Ivoire30 May 1993-
18 October 2016		30 May 199330 May 1993Territory also covered by OA
HR Croatia12 February 200412 February 200412 April 2004Territory also covered by EM
DK Denmark9 December 2008Territory also covered by EM
incl. Greenland (2011)
 Faroe Islands (2016)
-- East Germany1949-
3 October 1990		7 May 1989-
3 October 1990		7 May 1989-
3 October 1990
EG Egypt1 July 1952-
18 October 2016		27 August 2004
EE Estonia23 December 2012Territory also covered by EM
EM European Union1 January 2008
FI Finland1 May 2011Territory also covered by EM
FR France20 October 193025 June 1939-
18 October 2016		1 August 198427 September 197518 March 2007Territory also covered by EM
Including all territories
GA Gabon18 August 200318 August 2003Territory also covered by OA
DE Germany1 June 192813 June 1939-
18 October 2016		1 August 198427 September 197513 February 2010Territory also covered by EM
Stockholm and Hague act: Including "Land Berlin
GE Georgia1 August 20031 August 200323 December 2003
GH Ghana16 September 2008
GR Greece18 April 199718 April 1997Territory also covered by EM
HU Hungary7 April 1984-
1 February 2005		1 August 19847 April 19841 May 2004Territory also covered by EM
IS Iceland23 December 2003
ID Indonesia27 December 1949-
3 June 2010
IT Italy13 June 199713 August 1987Territory also covered by EM
JP Japan13 May 2015
KG Kyrgyzstan17 March 200317 March 200323 December 2003
LV Latvia26 July 2005Territory also covered by EM
LI Liechtenstein14 July 193328 January 1951-
18 October 2016		1 August 198427 September 197523 December 2003
LT Lithuania26 September 2008Territory also covered by EM
BX Luxembourg1 August 1984[lower-alpha 3]28 May 1979[lower-alpha 3]18 December 2018[lower-alpha 3]Territory also covered by EM
MK Macedonia18 March 199718 March 199722 March 2006
ML Mali7 September 20067 September 2006Territory also covered by OA
MD Moldova14 March 199414 March 199423 December 2003
MC Monaco29 April 1956-
18 October 2016		1 August 198427 September 19759 June 2011
MN Mongolia12 April 199712 April 199719 January 2008
ME Montenegro3 June 20063 June 20065 March 2012succession from Serbia and Montenegro
MA Morocco20 October 193021 January 1941-
18 October 2016		13 October 199912 October 1999
NA Namibia13 June 2004
BX Netherlands1 June 1928-
1 January 1975		5 August 1948-
1 January 1975		1 August 1984[lower-alpha 3]28 June 1979[lower-alpha 3]18 December 2018[lower-alpha 3]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 Niger20 September 200420 September 2004Territory also covered by OA
KP North Korea27 May 199227 May 199213 September 2016
NO Norway17 June 2010
OM Oman4 March 2009
PL Poland2 July 2009Territory also covered by EM
RU Russia28 February 2018
RO Romania18 July 199218 July 199223 December 2003Territory also covered by EM
RW Rwanda31 August 2011
ST Sao Tome and Principe8 December 2008
SN Senegal30 June 1984-
18 October 2016		1 August 198430 June 1984Territory also covered by OA
RS Serbia30 December 199330 December 19939 December 2009
SG Singapore17 December 2005
SI Slovenia13 January 199513 January 199523 December 2003Territory also covered by EM
KR South Korea1 July 2014
ES Spain1 June 19282 March 1956-
18 October 2016		23 December 2003Territory also covered by EM
Hague agreement and London Act: Including Spanish Morocco (-1956) and Colonies (1947-1975)
SR Suriname25 November 1975-
18 October 2016		1 August 198423 February 1977
CH  Switzerland1 June 192824 November 1939-
19 November 2010 		1 August 198427 September 197523 December 2003
SY Syria7 May 2008
TJ Tajikistan21 March 2012
--  Tangier6 March 1936-
1956		13 June 1939-
1956		now part of Morocco
TN Tunisia20 October 19304 October 1942-
18 October 2016		13 June 2012
TR Turkey1 January 2005
TM Turkmenistan16 March 2016
UA Ukraine28 August 200228 August 200223 December 2003
UK United Kingdom13 June 2018Territory also covered by EM. Incl. Isle of Man
US United States13 May 2015
VA  Vatican29 June 1960-
4 August 2007
Notes
  1. ↑ Code used in the context of the Hague Agreement
  2. ↑ Application was suspended since 2013
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 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:

  • 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 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

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