MPEP § 2901 — MPEP § 2901
Current through: 2022-07-01

2901-Basic Hague Agreement Principles 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Chapter 2900 

 Section 2901 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 2901 Basic Hague Agreement Principles [R-07.2022]
 I. OVERVIEW The Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the
 International Registration of Industrial Designs, July 2, 1999 (hereinafter “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
 application. 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
 administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization
 (“the International Bureau”).
 

 II. BASIC FLOW UNDER THE HAGUE AGREEMENT 
 

 A. Filing An international design application may be filed by an
 applicant “indirectly” through the office of the applicant’s Contracting Party
 (provided such Contracting Party has not declared that international design
 applications may not be filed through its office) or “directly” with the
 International Bureau. To be entitled to file an international design application, the
 applicant must be a national of a State that is a Contracting Party or of a State
 member of an intergovernmental organization that is a Contracting Party, or have a
 domicile, habitual residence, or a real and effective industrial or commercial
 establishment in the territory of a Contracting Party.
 

 The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) is an
 office of indirect filing. Only persons who are nationals of the United States or who
 have a domicile, habitual residence, or a real and effective industrial or commercial
 establishment in the territory of the United States may file international design
 applications through the USPTO. If the application is filed through the USPTO, the
 Office will confirm that the required transmittal fee has been paid, perform a
 security review, and check that the required indications demonstrating applicant’s
 entitlement to file the application through the USPTO are present in the application
 submission. If the transmittal fee is paid and the application clears security review
 and contains the indications establishing applicant’s entitlement to file the
 application through the USPTO, the application will be transmitted to the
 International Bureau and the applicant will be notified of the transmittal. The USPTO
 will also notify the applicant and the International Bureau of the receipt date of
 the application.
 

 B. Formal Examination by the International Bureau; International
 Registration Regardless of whether the application is filed
 indirectly through applicant's Contracting Party or directly with the International
 Bureau, the International Bureau examines the application to determine whether the
 applicable formal requirements under the Hague Agreement and Common Regulations Under
 the 1999 Act and the 1960 Act of the Hague Agreement have been satisfied. If the
 applicable requirements have been satisfied, the International Bureau will accord the
 application a filing date and an international registration date and register the
 industrial design in the International Register. The international registration
 includes all the data contained in the international design application (including
 any priority claim where the earlier filing is not more than six months prior to the
 international filing date), the reproduction(s) of the design, the international
 registration number and international registration date, and the class of the
 International Classification determined by the International Bureau. The
 International Bureau also sends a certificate of international registration to the
 applicant. Upon registration, the applicant is thereafter referred to as the “holder”
 of the international registration.
 

 If the International Bureau finds that the
 international design application does not satisfy the applicable requirements, it
 will invite the applicant to make the required corrections within a prescribed time
 limit. The failure to timely respond to the invitation may result in abandonment of
 the application or removal of the designation of a Contracting Party pursuant to
 Hague Agreement Article 8.
 

 C. Publication International registrations are published by the
 International Bureau. However, applicants may control the timing of publication to
 some extent. Specifically, the applicant may request in the official application form
 that publication occur immediately after international registration or that
 publication be deferred for up to 30 months from the filing date (or priority date,
 if applicable). Deferment of publication is not possible if a Contracting Party is
 designated that does not permit deferred publication. For applications filed on or
 after January 1, 2022, absent a request for immediate publication or deferment, the
 registration will be published twelve months after the date of international
 registration, or as soon as possible thereafter. For applications filed before
 January 1, 2022, absent a request for immediate publication or deferment, the
 registration will be published six months after the date of international
 registration, or as soon as possible thereafter. The publication includes the data
 recorded in the International Register and the reproductions(s) of the industrial
 design. 
 

 A copy of the publication of the international
 registration is communicated by the International Bureau to the office of each
 designated Contracting Party. If the United States is designated, the U.S.
 application assigned to the international registration will be made available in
 Patent Center shortly after publication of the international registration by the
 International Bureau. The U.S. application can be found in Patent Center by searching
 using the international registration number.
 

 For certain Contracting Parties, the date of
 publication of the international registration may trigger a time period in which to
 furnish certain submissions required under the law of the Contracting Party
 concerned, such as priority documents. The International Bureau’s Hague Member
 Profiles database available at www.wipo.int/hague/memberprofiles/#/ provides information
 regarding requirements concerning designated Contracting Parties. 
 

 D. Examination by the Offices of the Designated Contracting Parties Following publication of the international
 registration by the International Bureau, the offices of the designated Contracting
 Parties proceed with substantive examination if required under their respective laws.
 Some Contracting Parties do not carry out substantive examination. Furthermore, some
 Contracting Parties that carry out substantive examination only do so on limited
 grounds. The International Bureau’s Hague Member Profiles database available at
 www.wipo.int/hague/ memberprofiles/#/ provides detailed
 information regarding the scope of substantive examination carried out by designated
 Contracting Parties.
 

 As a result of that examination, the office may
 notify the International Bureau of a refusal of protection for its territory. A
 refusal of protection, if any, must be notified to the International Bureau within
 six months from the date of publication of the international registration. However,
 any Contracting Party whose office is an examining office, or whose law provides for
 the possibility of opposition to the grant of protection, may declare that the
 refusal period of six months is extended to 12 months.
 

 The notification of refusal is communicated by the
 office of the designated Contracting Party concerned to the International Bureau,
 which then transmits a copy of the notification of refusal to the holder. Any reply
 to the notification of refusal must be communicated directly to the designated
 Contracting Party concerned and not through the International Bureau. After
 communication of the notification of refusal, all further communications between the
 applicant and the designated office are directly between them and do not involve the
 International Bureau. 
 

 Pursuant to 35 U.S.C.
 389 , the USPTO will examine international design applications
 designating the United States based on the published international registration
 received from the International Bureau. Where it appears that the applicant is not
 entitled to a patent under the law of the United States with respect to any
 industrial design that is the subject of the international registration, the Office
 will send a notification of refusal to the International Bureau, normally within 12
 months from the publication of the international registration. The applicant may
 reply to such notification directly to the USPTO. Any further Office action, such as
 a subsequent non-final rejection, a final rejection, or an allowance, will be sent
 directly to the applicant.
 

 E. Effect as a Grant of Protection Hague Agreement Article 14(2) provides that the
 international registration shall have the same effect as a grant of protection for
 the industrial design under the law of that Contracting Party at the latest from the
 date of expiration of the period allowed for it to communicate a refusal or, where a
 Contracting Party has made a corresponding declaration under the Regulations, at the
 latest at the time specified in that declaration. Article 14(2) further provides,
 that where the office of a designated Contracting Party has communicated a refusal
 and has subsequently withdrawn, in part or in whole, that refusal, the international
 registration shall, to the extent that the refusal is withdrawn, have the same effect
 in that Contracting Party as a grant of protection for the industrial design under
 the law of the Contracting Party at the latest from the date on which the refusal was
 withdrawn.
 

 Contracting Parties vary as to when protection begins
 within their territories, the duration of protection, and notification of protection.
 For some Contracting Parties, the effect of a grant of protection begins on the
 international registration date; for others, the protection may begin on the
 publication date or later date. Information regarding when protection begins in
 designated Contracting Parties may be found in the International Bureau’s Hague
 Member Profiles database available at www.wipo.int/hague/
 memberprofiles/#/ .
 

 The duration of protection available also varies among
 Contracting Parties. Under the Hague Agreement, Contracting Parties must provide a
 minimum period of protection of 15 years counted from the international registration
 date, provided the international registration is renewed. Many Contracting Parties
 provide for longer periods of protection. For a complete listing of the maximum
 duration of protection available before Contracting Parties, see www.wipo.int/hague/en/declarations/ . For most Contracting
 Parties, renewal of the international registration, including payment of a renewal
 fee, is required at five-year increments to maintain protection.
 

 While many designated Contracting Parties send
 notification when protection has been granted within their territories, typically
 through issuance of a Statement of Grant of Protection communicated to the
 International Bureau pursuant to the provisions of Hague Agreement Rule
 18 bis, the sending of such a notification is not required under
 certain circumstances. Thus, some Contracting Parties may not send any notification
 that protection has begun within their territories.
 

 For international design applications designating the
 United States, protection begins upon the date of issuance of a U.S. design patent
 from such application and extends to those industrial designs that are the subject of
 the international registration and covered by the U.S. design patent. Concurrent with
 the issuance of the patent, the USPTO communicates a Statement of Grant of protection
 to the International Bureau. 
 

 [top] 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 2901-Basic Hague Agreement Principles 

 2902-Definitions 

 2903-Declarations under the Hague Agreement Made by the United States of America 

 2904-Who May File An International Design Application 

 2905-Where to File An International Design Application 
 2905.01-Filing Through the USPTO as an Office of Indirect Filing 

 
 

 2906-Filing Date Requirements 

 2907-International Registration and Date of the International Registration 

 2908-Filing Date in the United States 

 2909-Contents of the International Design Application 
 2909.01-Official Form for the Application for International Registration 

 2909.02-Reproductions (Drawings) 
 2909.02(a)-Reproductions Submitted Through the USPTO Patent Electronic Filing System 

 
 

 2909.03-Annexes 

 
 

 2910-International Design Application Fees 

 2911-Representation 

 2912-Correspondence in Respect of International Design Applications Filed With the USPTO as an Office of Indirect Filing 

 2913-Relief from Prescribed Time Limits 

 2914-Conversion of an International Design Application to a Design Application Under 35 U.S.C. Chapter 16 

 2915-2919-[Reserved] 

 2920-National Processing of International Design Applications Designating the United States 
 2920.01-Inventorship 

 2920.02-Applicant 

 2920.03-Correspondence Address 

 2920.04-Elements of a Nonprovisional International Design Application 
 2920.04(a)-Specification 

 2920.04(b)-Reproductions (Drawing Figures) 

 2920.04(c)-Inventor’s Oath or Declaration 

 
 

 2920.05-Examination 
 2920.05(a) -Notification of Refusal 

 2920.05(b)-One Independent and Distinct Design 

 2920.05(c) -Considerations Under 35 U.S.C. 112 

 2920.05(d)-Foreign Priority 

 2920.05(e)-Benefit Claims Under 35 U.S.C. 386(c) 

 2920.05(f)-Information Disclosure Statement in an International Design Application Designating the United States 

 
 

 2920.06-Allowance 

 
 

 2921-2929-[Reserved] 

 2930-Corrections and Other Changes in the International Register 

 2931-2939-[Reserved] 

 2940-Statement of Grant of Protection 

 2941-2949-[Reserved] 

 2950-Grant of Protection Only Upon Issuance of Patent; Term of Design Patent 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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 Last Modified: 
 
 03/09/2026 20:49:41