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The Hague Agreement is an international registration system for industrial designs which is governed by three Acts - the Geneva (1999) Act, the Hague (1960) Act and the London (1934) Act. The Hague Agreement allows an owner of an industrial design the means to have his design protected in several countries which are party to the Hague Agreement, by filing just one application with the International Bureau.
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The Hague Agreement is administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO").
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Singapore is party only to the Geneva (1999) Act of the Hague Agreement
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A list of members may be found on WIPO's website at www.wipo.int -> IP Services -> Designs (Hague System) -> About Members
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In order to use the Hague system, you must have an entitlement to file the international application under the Hague Agreement. You have an entitlement to file if:
a) you are a national of a State that is party to one of the Acts;
b) you are a national of a State member of an intergovernmental organisation that is a party to the Geneva (1999) Act;
c) you are domiciled in the territory of a State that is party to one of the Acts;
d) you have a habitual residence in the territory of a State that is party to the Geneva (1999) Act ; or
e) you have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the territory of a party to one of the Acts.
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This will depend on your entitlement to file the international application. For your information, Singapore is party only to the Geneva (1999) Act. For examples on entitlement to file, you may wish to refer to the explanatory notes to the application form (DM/1.INF) at www.wipo.int -> IP Services -> Designs (Hague System) -> E-filing/Forms
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No, you may not amend the international application to add another designation. You would have to file a new application to designate the country that was originally missed out.
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An international application is usually filed directly (known as a "direct filing") with the International Bureau of WIPO by the applicant. WIPO's office is located at:
34, chemin des Colombettes, in Geneva, Switzerland.
An electronic filing (e-filing) service is also available for the Application of International Registration (DM/1) at www.wipo.int -> IP Services -> Designs (Hague System) -> E-filing/Forms
An international application may also be filed, at the option of the applicant, through IPOS ("indirect filing"). Upon receipt of the international application and the payment of fees (including a transmittal fee), IPOS will forward the international application to the International Bureau.
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No, the filing of an international application does not require any prior national application or filing. A design may be filed and protected for the first time at the international level through the Hague Agreement.
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For the allocation of a filing date to an international application, the Geneva (1999) Act makes a distinction between applications filed directly with the International Bureau by the applicant and those filed through IPOS. Generally, the filing dates are as follows:
in the case of direct filing, the filing date is the date on which the International Bureau receives the international application; and
in the case of indirect filing, it is the date on which IPOS receives the international application ( provided that the application is received by the International Bureau within one month thereafter).
Filing dates may however be affected by irregularities in filing such as the non-payment of fees or other irregularities in filing.
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If your international application is filed directly with the International Bureau, the following fees are payable to World Intellectual Property Organization:
- Basic fees (for first and additional designs)
- Standard Designation fees (for first and additional designs)
- Individual Designation Fees (if applicable)
- Publication Fees (per reproduction in black & white / colour, per page)
- Fee per additional word for long descriptions
You may wish to use the fee calculator which can be found in the WIPO website to assist in the calculation of the fees payable.
If your international application is indirectly filed through IPOS, in addition to the fees payable to the World Intellectual Property Organization, a transmittal fee of S$150 will also have to be paid.
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All payments made to the International Bureau must be made in Swiss currency. If you are filing through IPOS, there is an additional transmittal fee of $150 which is payable in Singapore dollars.
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You would submit your application form together with a banker's cheque made payable to "World Intellectual Property Organization".
You would also need to pay a transmittal fee of SGD150 which is payable to IPOS. The transmittal fee may be paid via GIRO, cashcard, by cash or by cheque made out to "Intellectual Property Office of Singapore".
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A single international application may comprise several different designs, up to a maximum of 100 designs. All the designs must belong to the same class of the Locarno Classification.
If the international application designates Singapore, the applicant should note that Singapore law requires that designs that are subject of the same application conform to a requirement of unity of design, unity of production or unity of use, or belong to the same set or composition of items, or that only one independent and distinct design may be claimed in a single application.
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IPOS will inform the International Bureau of the fact at the examination stage. The applicant will be invited to divide his application to overcome the objection. The application to divide the international registration must be made within 3 months from the notification by IPOS. The divided applications will have the same filing date as that of the international registration.
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The international registration is published in the International Designs Bulletin which is an electronic bulletin on WIPO's website. The details of the international registration will not be re-published in the Singapore Designs Journal. The Designs Journal will however list the International Design number of those international registrations that are published in WIPO's Bulletin.
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Under the Geneva (1999) Act, publication may be deferred up to 30 months. However, Singapore law does not provide for deferment of publication. Hence, if an international registration designates Singapore and the applicant wishes to proceed with the deferment, Singapore may have to be withdrawn from the list of designated countries.
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After publication, the offices of the designated parties have 6 to 12 months, (depending on whether an office does substantive examination), to file a Notification of Refusal.
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If no Notification of Refusal is made by the offices of the designated countries to the International Bureau within six to 12 months from the date of publication, the international registration will enjoy the same protection as a regular national filing in those countries.
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International registrations are valid for an initial period of five years. They can be renewed for two additional periods of five years (i.e., a minimum period of protection of 15 years).
Under the Geneva (1999) Act, if the domestic legislation of a party to this Act allows a term of protection of more than 15 years; the international registration may be renewed in respect of that State for additional periods of five years, up to the expiry of the total term of protection allowed for such national registrations.
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