International Industrial Design Law Developments

Abstract

It is an exciting time to be involved in the development of improved industrial design protection. Perhaps one of the most important events is the European Community (“BC”) work on a design protection system (“Community Designn”). Hugh Griffiths' conference paper gives an excellent review of that project. The Community Design proposal has been a lightning rod and catalyst for industrial design law issues, both legal and political. It has increased the level of interest and activity on industrial design protection around the world. I was privileged to be at the Max Planck Institute for Patent, Copyright and Competition Law during the time the basic EC proposal was being developed. I continue to study this proposal, for several reasons. It offers an excellent insight on how many current issues concerning industrial design protection may be resolved in the United States and in other countries.The primary purpose of this paper is to present another major industrial design law development, the revision of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs (“Hague Agreement”). It is a treaty that can bring the world closer together on design protection. I have been privileged to represent the American Bar Association (“ABA”), Section of Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association (“AIPLA”) at the first two meetings of experts on the Hague Agreement revision. I will represent the ABA at the upcoming meeting on April 26-30, 1993. In addition, this paper will discuss. briefly, other major internationaldesign protection developments.