Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs
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.
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[a] | 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[b] | 28 May 1997[b] | 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[b] | 28 May 1979[b] | 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[b] | 28 June 1979[b] | 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 | ||||
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 | Switzerland | 1 June 1928 | 24 November 1939- 19 November 2010 |
1 August 1984 | 27 September 1975 | 23 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 | Tunisia | 20 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
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
- ^ Party to any of the treaties
- ^ Full texts of the Hague Agreement, Regulations and Administrative Instructions. WIPO
- ^ London Act of the Hague Agreement. WIPO
- ^ Hague Act of the Hague Agreement. WIPO
- ^ Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement. WIPO
External links
- Industrial design
- Treaties concluded in 1925
- Treaties entered into force in 1928
- Intellectual property treaties
- Treaties of Albania
- Treaties of Armenia
- Treaties of Azerbaijan
- Treaties of Belgium
- Treaties of Belize
- Treaties of the People's Republic of Benin
- Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Treaties of Botswana
- Treaties of Bulgaria
- Treaties of Ivory Coast
- Treaties of Croatia
- Treaties of North Korea
- Treaties of Denmark
- Treaties of the Kingdom of Egypt
- Treaties of Estonia
- Treaties entered into by the European Union
- Treaties of Finland
- Treaties of the French Third Republic
- Treaties of Gabon
- Treaties of Georgia (country)
- Treaties of the Weimar Republic
- Treaties of Ghana
- Treaties of Greece
- Treaties of the Hungarian People's Republic
- Treaties of Iceland
- Treaties of Italy
- Treaties of Japan
- Treaties of Kyrgyzstan
- Treaties of Latvia
- Treaties of Liechtenstein
- Treaties of Lithuania
- Treaties of Luxembourg
- Treaties of Mali
- Treaties of Monaco
- Treaties of Mongolia
- Treaties of Montenegro
- Treaties of Morocco
- Treaties of Namibia
- Treaties of the Netherlands
- Treaties of Niger
- Treaties of Norway
- Treaties entered into by the African Intellectual Property Organization
- Treaties of Oman
- Treaties of Poland
- Treaties of Moldova
- Treaties of Romania
- Treaties of Rwanda
- Treaties of São Tomé and Príncipe
- Treaties of Senegal
- Treaties of Yugoslavia
- Treaties of Singapore
- Treaties of Slovenia
- Treaties of Spain
- Treaties of Suriname
- Treaties of Switzerland
- Treaties of Syria
- Treaties of Tajikistan
- Treaties of the Republic of Macedonia
- Treaties of Tunisia
- Treaties of Turkey
- Treaties of Turkmenistan
- Treaties of Ukraine
- Treaties of the United States
- Treaties extended to the Dutch East Indies
- Treaties extended to Curaçao and Dependencies
- Treaties extended to Surinam (Dutch colony)
- Treaties extended to West Berlin
- Treaties of East Germany
- Treaties extended to the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco
- Treaties extended to French Algeria
- Treaties extended to Tangier
- Treaties extended to Saar (League of Nations)
- 1925 in the Netherlands
- World Intellectual Property Organization treaties