More Bang for Your Design Protection Money: A Report on the Hague Agreement Third Meeting of Experts

Abstract

The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs (Hague Agreement) offers a cost effective way to obtain international design protection, but it has certain provisions that have prevented adherence by the U.S. to any of its versions. It was my privilege to represent the American Bar Association, Section of Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law (ABA) at the third meeting of experts on the development of a revised text for the Hague Agreement (Draft Act). This meeting was held at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 26 to 30, 1993.In addition to serving as a report on the third meeting, this article should serve as a working document to help prepare for the next meeting of experts. Another feature of this report is a detailed review of the protection cost under the Draft Act. It is very important that design owners and practitioners understand the tremendous opportunity for relatively low cost international design protection provided by the Hague Agreement. It is this greater “bang” for your design protection the money that attracts a lot of U.S. interest in the Hague Agreement revision.Third meeting highlights are presented in section II, followed by a brief description, in section III, of the proposed system including a helpful diagram. The topics on which agreement has been reached, in principle, are listed in section IV. Major issues needing further discussion are reviewed in section V. Fees for typical protection situations are discussed in section VI. The report conclusion, section VII, summarizes the steps needed to complete successfully the Draft Act.The primary document for the third meeting was the WIPO Draft Act containing the proposed articles and explanatory notes. All citations in this report will be to that document, unless otherwise stated. WIPO prepared a report on the meeting that is quite useful. The accomplishments of the second meeting of experts, held in 1992, are reviewed in my recent article that is a very helpful source of background information.