Commission Regulation (EC) No 876/2007 of 24 July 2007 amending Regulation (EC) No 2245/2002 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 on Community designs following the accession of the European Community to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement concerning the international registration of industrial designs   (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2007-07-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU trade mark, European Union Intellectual Property Office, World Intellectual Property Organisation, designs and models, industrial property, intellectual property, trade-mark law

25.7.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 193/13

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 876/2007

of 24 July 2007

amending Regulation (EC) No 2245/2002 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 on
Community designs following the accession of the European Community to the Geneva Act of
the Hague Agreement concerning the international registration of industrial designs

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12
December 2001 on Community designs (1), and in particular
Article 107(3) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Following the accession of the European Community to
the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement concerning the
International Registration of Industrial Designs adopted
on 2 July 1999 approved by Council Decision
2006/954/EC (2) and the amendments of Regulation
(EC) No 6/2002 linked thereto, it is necessary to adopt
certain technical implementing measures.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2245/2002 of 21
October 2002 implementing Council Regulation (EC)
No 6/2002 on Community designs (3) should therefore
be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the Committee estab-
lished under Article 109 of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 2245/2002 is amended as follows:

1. the following Article 11a is inserted:

‘Article 11a

Examination of grounds for refusal

1. Where, pursuant to Article 106e(1) of Regulation (EC)
No 6/2002, the Office finds, in the course of carrying out an
examination of an international registration, that the design
for which protection is sought does not correspond to the
definition of design provided for in Article 3(a) of
that
Regulation or that the design is contrary to public policy
it shall send to the
or to accepted principles of morality,

(1) OJ L 3, 5.1.2002, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1891/2006 (OJ L 386, 29.12.2006, p. 14).

(2) OJ L 386, 29.12.2006, p. 28.
(3) OJ L 341, 17.12.2002, p. 28.

the

International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Orga-
nisation (hereinafter “the International Bureau”) a notification
of refusal not later than six months from the date of publi-
specifying the
cation of
the
grounds
Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement concerning the Inter-
national Registration of Industrial Designs adopted on 2 July
1999 (hereinafter “the Geneva Act”) approved by Council
Decision 2006/954/EC (*).

international
refusal pursuant

to Article 12(2) of

registration,

for

2.
The Office shall specify a time limit within which the
holder of the international registration has the possibility,
pursuant to Article 106e(2) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002,
to renounce the international registration in respect of the
Community, to limit the international registration to one or
some of the industrial designs in respect of the Community
or to submit observations.

3. Where the holder of the international registration is
obliged to be represented in proceedings before the Office
pursuant to Article 77(2) of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002, the
notification shall contain a reference to the obligation of the
holder to appoint a representative as referred to in Article
78(1) of that Regulation.

The time limit specified in paragraph 2 of this Article shall
apply mutatis mutandis.

If the holder fails to appoint a representative within the
4.
specified time limit, the Office shall refuse the protection of
the international registration.

5. Where the holder submits observations that would
satisfy the Office within the specified time limit, the Office
shall withdraw the refusal and notify the International
Bureau in accordance with Article 12(4) of the Geneva act.

Where, pursuant to Article 12(2) of the Geneva act, the
holder does not submits observations that would satisfy
the Office within the specified time limit, the Office shall
confirm the decision refusing protection for the international
registration. That decision is subject to appeal in accordance
with Title VII of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002.

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Official Journal of the European Union

25.7.2007

the

6. Where the holder renounces the international regis-
tration or limits the international registration to one or
some of
the
Community, he shall
inform the International Bureau by
recording procedure in accordance with Article
way of
16(1)(iv) and (v) of
the Geneva Act. The holder can
inform the Office submitting a corresponding statement.

in respect of

industrial

designs

___________
(*) OJ L 386, 29.12.2006, p. 28’;

2. Article 22 is replaced by the following:

for in Article 13 thereof and in this Regulation are not
satisfied, the Office shall
inform the applicant of the defi-
ciencies.

5. Where an application for renewal is not submitted or
is submitted after expiry of the time limit provided for in the
second sentence of Article 13(3) of Regulation (EC) No
6/2002, or if the fees are not paid or are paid only after
expiry of the relevant time limit, or if the deficiencies are not
remedied within the time limit specified by the Office, the
Office shall determine that the registration has expired and
shall notify the holder accordingly.

‘Article 22

Renewal of Community design registration

1.

An application for renewal of registration shall contain:

In the case of a multiple registration, where the fees paid are
insufficient to cover all the designs for which renewal
is
requested, such a determination shall be made only after
the Office has established which designs the amount paid
is intended to cover.

(a)

the name of the person requesting renewal;

(b) the registration number;

(c) where applicable, an indication that renewal is requested
for all the designs covered by a multiple registration or,
if the renewal is not requested for all such designs, an
is
indication of
requested.

for which renewal

those designs

In the absence of other criteria for determining which
designs are intended to be covered, the Office shall take
the designs in the numerical order in which they are repre-
sented in accordance with Article 2(4).

The Office shall determine that the registration has expired
with regard to all designs for which the renewal fees have
not been paid or have not been paid in full.

The fees payable pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation
2.
(EC) No 6/2002 for the renewal of a registration shall consist
of:

6. Where the determination made pursuant to paragraph
5 has become final, the Office shall cancel the design from
the Register with effect from the day following the day on
which the existing registration expired.

(a) renewal fee, which,

in cases where several designs are
covered by a multiple registration, shall be proportionate
to the number of designs covered by the renewal;

7. Where the renewal fees provided for in paragraph 2
have been paid but the registration is not renewed, those fees
shall be refunded.

(b) here applicable, the additional fee for late payment of the
renewal fee or late submission of the request for renewal,
pursuant to Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 6/2002, as
specified in Regulation (EC) No 2246/2002.

A single application for renewal may be submitted for
8.
the same
two or more designs, whether or not part of
multiple registration, upon payment of
the required fees
for each of the designs, provided that the holders or the
representatives are the same in each case.’;

If

the payment referred to in paragraph 2 of

3.
this
Article is made according to the provisions of Article 5(1)
of the Regulation (EC) No 2246/2002, this shall be deemed
to constitute a request for renewal provided that it contains
all
the indications required under points (a) and (b) of
paragraph 1, of this Article and Article 6(1) of that Regu-
lation.

3. the following Article 22a is inserted:

‘Article 22a

Renewals of international registration designating the
Community

4. Where the application for renewal is filed within the
time limits provided for in Article 13(3) of Regulation (EC)
No 6/2002, but the other conditions for renewal provided

The international registration shall be renewed directly at the
International Bureau in compliance with Article 17 of the
Geneva Act.’;

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4.

in Article 31, the following paragraph 6 is added:

6.

in Article 71, the following paragraph 3 is added:

‘6. Where the Office declares invalid the effects of an
the
in
international
Community; it shall notify its decision to the International
Bureau upon becoming final.’;

registration

territory

the

of

‘3.
The Office shall provide information on international
registrations of designs designating the Community in the
form of an electronic link to the searchable database main-
tained by the International Bureau.’

5.

in Article 47, the following paragraph 3 is added:

Article 2

‘3.
Communications between the Office and the Interna-
tional Bureau shall be in a mutually agreed manner and
format, where possible by electronic means. Any reference
to forms shall be construed as including forms available in
electronic format.’;

This Regulation shall enter into force on the date on which the
Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement concerning the Interna-
tional Registration of Industrial Designs enters into force with
respect to the European Community. The date of entry into
this Regulation shall be published in the Official
force of
Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 24 July 2007.

For the Commission

Charlie McCREEVY
Member of the Commission