International Designs

International Designs Protection

An industrial design relates to the eye-appealing features of a product such as the ornamental or aesthetic aspects and not technical matters.

These features may be two-dimensional, like lines or patterns, or three-dimensional like shape.

Under the Hague System, one can file an International design registration to protect Contracting Parties to the Hague Agreement for the Registration of Industrial Designs. It is administered by the International Bureau of World Intellectual Property Organization ["WIPO"] in Geneva, Switzerland.

There are three statutes that govern the Hague Agreement, namely, London Act (1934), Hague Act (1960) and Geneva Act (1999). Some countries operate under one or more of these statutes; WIPO members hope to consolidate the Agreement into one statute over time to simplify the System.

If one is either a citizen, domiciled, has a place of business, or habitually resident in a contracting party, one can file an industrial design direct with WIPO. This saves costs on applying for and renewing separate design registrations in many countries. Unlike International trade mark registrations, there is no requirement to base an International design on a home application or registration.

A registration when granted is for five years, with five-year renewal periods dependent on the countries concerned. Most countries allow registration to a maximum of twenty-five years, others ten or fifteen.

Sixty-five countries have signed the Hague Agreement.