Symplifying the International Registration System for Industrial Designs
The international registration system for industrial designs (The Hague Agreement), allows for the protection of industrial designs in several countries by means of presenting one single application (in one single language, with standardized fees and in one single currency: the Swiss franc).
On September 24, Member States simplified the registration process by eliminating the oldest of the three Acts that oversaw it.
This decision, which will become effective as of January 1, 2010, reduces the system's complexity by centering on the Geneva Act. The Act perfected the current system by making it more compatible with registration systems in countries where industrial design protection is subject to an exam in order to determine whether the application is accepted. The Geneva Act also introduced modifications to the fee system; it included the possibility of postponing the publication of a design for up to 30 months and presented design samples in the application itself, instead of photographs and other types of graphic reproductions. These latter characteristics are of particular interest to the textile and fashion industries.
It's worth remembering that Spanish was recently introduced as a procedural language, placed at the same level as that of French and English, which constitutes an advance in introducing the Spanish language into international registration systems, with the objective of providing access for protecting industrial property rights to companies and other users.
