Community Designs to be Linked to International System

The EU Commission have announced that Community Designs will be linked to the Hague Agreement System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs, by 1 January 2008. With the adoption of the Geneva Act the Hague System, works somewhat like the Madrid Protocol registration system for trademarks. The Geneva Act permits member states to perform some national phase examination. It also allows the accession of regional offices such as OHIM. At present, there are only 47 member states of the Hague Agreement, of whom only around half have joined the Geneva Act. Many of the existing members are already part of the EU. Many major design filing nations, including the US, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, Canada and New Zealand are not members.

The accession of the EU (through OHIM) will have two consequences:

1. It will be possible for nationals of, or residents in, a member state of the Hague System to file an international application, designating the EU as a whole as a Community Design. The designation fees will be relatively low.

2. It will be possible for EU nationals or residents to file an international design application, thereby designating non-EU members of the Hague agreement.

In view of the limited membership of the Geneva Act of the Hague agreement at present, and of the fact that most of the largest members are already EU states, the system will have only limited attractions at present. However, as new states join, its attractions will increase. Potential applicants will need to exercise great care, because the Hague System does not harmonise substantive design law: a design which meets the restrictive Hague Agreement requirements may nonetheless be invalid, or of narrow scope, in designated states. Many users will therefore prefer to continue to work through local counsel in each important country instead of using the Hague system.

Non-EU Hague (Geneva Act) countries which might be of interest to applicants are as follows:

 

Biggest economies - Countries within top 100 GDP (EU, for comparison, would rank top)

State	Rank (GDP)	Rank (GDP per head)
Turkey	18	69
Switzerland	20	7
Singapore	44	25
Egypt	51	117
Ukraine	52	106
Croatia	64	49
Iceland	93	5

 

Wealthiest - Countries within top 100 GPDper capita (EU, for comparison, would rank 26th)

State	Rank (GDP)	Rank (GDP per head)
Iceland	93	5
Switzerland	20	7
Singapore	44	25
Croatia	64	49
Botswana	106	58
Turkey	18	69
Namibia	125	90
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	126	91
Albania	111	95