On 13 February, the adhesion of United States and Japan to the Hague system for the international registration of industrial designs administered by WIPO has been made official.
From now on, the designers of these two major economies may protect and promote their two and three dimensional creations throughout much of the world from a single application by using this international treaty.
These adhesions expand the geographic scope for the protection of industrial designs, increasing to 64 the number of countries members of the Hague System. We show below the full list of countries:
| Albania | Botswana | Spain | Ghana | Liechtenstein | Namibia | Republic of Korea | Singapore |
| Germany | Brunei Darussalam | United States | Greece | Lithuania | Niger | Moldova | Switzerland |
| Armenia | Bulgaria | Estonia | Hungary | Luxembourg | Norway | Democratic Republic of Korea | Suriname |
| Azerbaiyán | Côte d’Ivoire | ex Rep. Yugoslava de Macedonia | Iceland | Mali | Omán | Romania | Tayikistán |
| Belgium | Croatia | Finland | Italy | Morocco | OAPI | Rwanda | Tunisia |
| Belize | Denmark | France | Japan | Monaco | Netherlands | Sao Tome and Principe | Turkey |
| Benin | Egypt | Gabon | Kirguistán | Mongolia | Poland | Senegal | Ukraine |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Slovenia | Georgia | Latvia | Montenegro | Syrian Arab republic | Serbia | European Union |
The main benefit of the Hague Agreement is certainly that simplifies the procedures by allowing with a single international application before the WIPO to obtain protection in all contracting states. All formalities of applications that otherwise would have had to be made uniquely before each National Office of interest are avoided.
This way of international process also reduces costs, although it should be clear that it is necessary to pay a designation fee for each country of interest.
Finally we remember the requirements to apply for an international design using the Hague System:
- Having a legal representative or be a native of a Contracting Party or member State of an intergovernmental organization that is a Contracting Party,
- Having a legal representative or a domicile in the territory of a Contracting Party,
- Having a legal representative or a real industrial or commercial establishment in the territory of a Contracting Party.
From Protectia we enthusiastically welcome the joining of two economics like USA and Japan, since it represents an additional advantage for all companies that need protection for their designs in the major economies of the world.
