The International Registration System for Industrial Designs is known as the Hague System, which is managed by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The Hague System is a fast track to international protection of designs in multiple jurisdictions. Maximize time savings and achieve great cost effectiveness through minimal procedures. There is no need to file separate applications in each country; Without the complexities of different languages and currencies; No need to monitor multiple renewal periods; Registration can be centrally managed only through the property rights organization.

As of June 2020, the Hague System had 74 Parties, covering 91 countries. The United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the European Union, Russia and other major countries and regions are parties to the Hague Agreement. Following accession to the Hague Agreement, a single international application can be submitted to the WIPO International Bureau, resulting in an international registration with separate effect for each Party designated in the application, thus providing a mechanism for the acquisition, maintenance and management of design rights in States and intergovernmental organizations that are members of the Hague Union.

On June 28, 2020, the second draft of an amendment to the Patent Law was submitted to the 20th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) for deliberation. The amendment includes amendments to the term of protection for appearance, which currently lasts for 10 years. This modification is not only a strengthening of the protection of industrial design, but also a preparation and adjustment for the smooth accession to an international treaty - the Hague Agreement.

At present, Chinese applicants who want to apply for appearance patents abroad usually have only one way to submit their applications to each country through the Paris Convention. If a Chinese enterprise wants to apply for appearance protection from the United States, Japan and South Korea, it needs to prepare three application documents, use three languages, and apply to three national bureaus, which also means that it needs to entrust agents from three countries to handle it. It is not only the official fee multiplied by 3, but also the agency fee multiplied by 3.

The Hague system is like a ray of light, which makes it easier to solve these problems. In foreign application, we often contact with the PCT system and the Madrid system. The former is the international patent system for invention and utility model, the latter is the international trademark system for registered trademarks, while the Hague system is the international design system for industrial design protection. The PCT, Madrid and The Hague constitute the three most important WIPO systems.

At present, in addition to Lenovo, more and more Chinese enterprises, such as ZTE, Huawei, Xiaomi, Gree, Midea and other companies, are actively trying to use the Hague system to seek application and protection of design patents in the world through backdoor application.

It is reported that Xiaomi submitted a large number of Hague Agreement applications in early 2019. The Hague system is the only way for Xiaomi to quickly distribute its design patents in different countries, as the company realizes that its own internationalization is accelerating and it is looking for a cheap and efficient way to apply.

One set of statistics can illustrate the growing need for international protection of Chinese companies.

According to Wu Kai, senior business director of WIPO China Office, the number of international applications filed in The Hague in 2018 ranked first for South Korea, while China ranked ninth, with a growth rate of 142%. In the top 20 countries, Germany had the highest number of designs included in international applications, with 1,984, while China was 13th, with a 95% growth rate. "The number of applications has grown very fast in recent years, which is in line with China's economic development." Berenikeullmann said.

Lu Guoliang believes that China is the biggest user of the future Hague agreement, "because we account for more than 50 percent of the world's design, and the amount of overseas protection through the Hague system will not be small." China must join the Hague agreement as soon as possible. The sooner it joins, the better its voice will be. Now that the US, Japan, and South Korea are on board, China should step up. Negotiating with the World Intellectual Property Organization to join the Hague system will help Chinese enterprises more easily obtain design protection in other countries, so that Chinese ideas, Chinese designs and Chinese manufactures can better go abroad and reach out to the world.

Mr Lu cautions, however, that most Chinese design patents are now filed in the country. In terms of the number of applications, 96% of the designs submitted by Chinese applicants were submitted in China, while only 4% were submitted overseas, "indicating that there is still a large space for us to seek intellectual property protection from overseas".

Potential members of the Hague system include China, Morocco, Israel, Mexico, Madagascar and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

From: WIPO ect.   Editor：Zhang Chunyu  Date: March 17, 2021