The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, referred to as the Hague Agreement, is a regulation for the international registration of industrial designs. The agreement was first adopted in 1925 and effectively established an international system for industrial designs to be protected in multiple countries or regions with minimal formalities – the Hague System. The Hague System is administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization is also responsible for maintaining the International Register and publishing the International Designs Bulletin.
In short, the Hague Agreement provides for the possibility of obtaining industrial design protection in several contracting parties by submitting a single international application to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Hague System currently has 64 contracting parties. In order to become a contracting party to the Hague System and enable Chinese design applicants to enjoy the convenience brought by the Hague System as soon as possible, the “Draft Amendment to the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft for Comments)” issued by the State Intellectual Property Office on April 1, 2015, revised the part related to designs so as to connect with the Hague System. Specific changes include: clarifying the protection of partial designs, adding a domestic priority system for designs, and extending the protection period for design patents.