Hague Agreement Rules Published By USPTO Creating Strategic Considerations For Applicants

On April 2, 2015, the USPTO published its final rules to implement the Hague Agreement Concerning International Registration of Industrial Designs (Hague Agreement), with an effective date of May 13, 2015. The Hague Agreement enables qualified applicants to apply for design protection in the contracting states of the Hague Agreement by filing a single standardized design application. The key benefits for applicants are the administrative ease of filing a single application for protection in multiple countries and avoiding the expense of hiring counsel to file these applications in each selected country, as is the current practice. This streamlined process should result in a reduced barrier to entry for applicants to acquire geographically broader design protection through simplification and reduced costs.