The European Commission has signed up to a World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO) agreement, which will protect designs
with just one application. But while the agreement gives protection
around the world, major industrial nations including Japan and the
US have yet to sign up.
Called the Geneva Act, which is part of the Hague Agreement, the
system allows one application for design protection to apply in
many countries. Designs can be filed directly with WIPO even if
there is no pre-existing national design protection in place.
"European businesses will now be able to obtain and protect
their designs internationally in a simple, affordable and effective
way," said the European Commission's Internal Market and Services
Commissioner Charlie McCreevy. "This should further stimulate trade
and innovation, create new commercial opportunities and boost
integration within the EU Internal Market."
Trade marks specialist Rebecca Tilbury of Pinsent Masons, the
law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, said that the system has advantages
for business.
"It will mean that designers will no longer have to file
national applications and have a massive design registration
portfolio but could effectively select all their countries from the
those members of the Geneva Act and obtain one registration
designating those specific territories," she said.
"One of the main benefits of this system is that not only does
it move closer to the options available to those wishing to
register a trade mark internationally but will save designers and
companies a considerable amount of money as there would be no need
to file a separate Community Design Application."
Europe already has a system, the Community Design system, to
protect designs across Europe. From 1st January 2008, though, that
protection will extend to all Hague Agreement signatory countries.
Similarly, Hague Agreement signatories will gain protection in the
Community Design system.
Trade marks attorney Lee Curtis of Pinsent Masons said that the
system was similar to the international trade mark protection
system, the Madrid Agreement.
"It is similar to the Madrid Agreement in that you file a
single design application at WIPO covering any number of member
states," he said. "The crucial difference with the Madrid Agreement
system is that you do not need a base application in a member state
to base the international design application on. The application
can be filed directly with WIPO with no corresponding national
protection in a member state."
The European Commission said that the Community Design system,
which has been in operation since 2003, has 267,000 designs
registered with it, and that the Geneva Act's 23 countries have
registered 146,000 designs with it.
