International Design
Applications (Hague Agreement)
No
material or nonsubstantive change to a currently approved
collection
No
Regular
11/20/2024
Requested
Previously Approved
05/31/2027
05/31/2027
1,231
1,231
2,052
2,052
8,990,862
3,708,240
The Patent Law Treaties Implementation
Act of 2012 (PLTIA) amends the patent laws to implement the
provisions of the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning
International Registration of Industrial Designs (hereinafter
“Hauge Agreement”) in title 1, and the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) in
title 2. The Hague Agreement is an international agreement that
enables an applicant to file a single international design
application which may have the effect of an application for
protection for the design(s) in countries and/or intergovernmental
organizations that are Parties to the Hague Agreement (the
“Contracting Parties”) designated in the applications. The United
States is a Contracting Party to the Hague Agreement, which took
effect with respect to the United States on May 13, 2015. The Hague
Agreement is administrated by the International Bureau (IB) of the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) located in Geneva,
Switzerland. Under the Hague Agreement, U.S. applicants could file
international design applications in English “indirectly” through
the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which will
forward the applications to the IB or “directly” with the IB.
International design applications are subject to the following
fees: (1) basic fee; (2) standard designation fee(s); (3)
individual designation fee(s); and (4) publication fee. Also, an
additional fee is required where the application contain a
description that exceeds 100 words. In addition, a transmittal fee
is required for international design applications filed through an
office of indirect filing. Thus, international design applications
filed through the USPTO as an Office of indirect filing are subject
to payment of a transmittal fee for processing and forwarding the
international design applications to the IB. The fees required by
the IB may be paid either directly to the IB or through the USPTO
as an office of indirect filing in the amounts specified on the
World Intellectual Property Organization Web site. If applicants
want to paid the required fees through USPTO as an office of
indirect filing, the fees must be paid no later than the date of
payment of the transmittal fee. The fees will then be forwarded to
the IB. The industrial design or designs will be eligible for
protection in all the Contracting Parties designated by applicants.
The IB ascertains whether the international design application
complies with formal requirements, registers the international
design to the international register, and publishes the
international registration in the International Designs Bulletin.
The international registration contains all of the data of the
international application, any reproduction of the international
design, date of the international registration, number of the
international registration, and the relevant class of the
International Classification. The IB will provide a copy of the
publication of the international registration to each Contracting
party designated by the application. A designated Contracting Party
may perform a substantive examination of the design application.
The USPTO will perform a substantive examination for patentability
of the international design application, as in the case of regular
U.S. design applications. The Hague Agreement enables applicants
from Contracting Parties to obtain protection of their designs with
minimal formalities and expenses in multiple countries and/or
regions. The Hague Agreement is administered by the IB, which
simplifies the management of an industrial design registration. For
example, through the IB, applicants can record changes of their
representatives or changes in ownership, and renew their
international registration.
US Code:
35 USC
1 Name of Law: Public Law Treaties Implementation Act of
2012
PL:
Pub.L. 112 - 211 3486 Name of Law: Hague Agreement Concerning
International Registration of Industrial Designs
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.