Hague System: Questions and Answers

You can include up to 100 designs per application. All designs must however belong to the same class of the International Classification for Industrial Designs (the Locarno Classification).

For full details on requirements, refer to:

• Rules 7 to 9 of the Common Regulations
• Parts 3 and 4 of the Administrative Instructions
• The Declarations by Contracting Parties may include additional requirements. The eHague filing interface contains safeguards and alerts that signal such requirements when they apply.

Further information about each contracting party is also available under Hague System Member Profiles.

A reproduction refers to photographs, drawings or other graphic representations that illustrate your design.

Note! Under the legal framework of the Hague System there are no specific requirements or restrictions as to how many – and which views of – designs must be submitted with your application. China, the Republic of Korea and Viet Nam have however made declarations requiring specific views of a design. For details, refer to Hague System Member Profiles.

Yes, when you complete your application you can indicate the name, email and address of a representative. You may also appoint a representative after filing your application using Hague System form DM/7, which serves as a power of attorney.

For applications filed using eHague, examination takes an average of one month; the length varies according to the complexity of the application.

For applications submitted on paper or filed indirectly (i.e., through a national/regional office) examination is significantly longer, largely due to manual processing. Note: applications filed indirectly can take considerable time to reach WIPO, thereby delaying the examination process.

In instances where an international application was filed in paper format – directly with WIPO or indirectly with the IP office of a contracting party – you can upload a reply to an irregularity letter using our Hague System Document Upload service available via Contact Hague. Note: to use this service, you need to have a WIPO Account.

Yes, you can request earlier publication – at any time before the expiration of the publication period initially specified in the international application. (You cannot request later publication than that originally specified.) How? Simply contact us through Contact Hague, specifying your international application number.

By default – unless you requested immediate publication or publication at a chosen time – WIPO will publish your international registration in the International Designs Bulletin twelve months after the date of international registration (normally the date on which WIPO received your international application).

Yes, you can defer publication for a maximum of 30 months (under the 1999 Geneva Act) or 12 months (under the 1960 Hague Act), counting from the filing date or, where priority is claimed, from the priority date.

For more information, refer to Declarations of contracting parties.

Typically, the date of the international registration corresponds to the international filing date.

However, if your application:

• was submitted in a language other than English, French or Spanish (the official languages of the Hague System), or
• was missing any of the elements that are specifically listed as affecting the date of registration (refer to Rule 14(2) of the Common Regulations )

…then WIPO will send you an irregularity notice. The international registration date will then correspond to the date on which WIPO received the correction of the irregulariry.

Under the Hague System, you are guaranteed at least 15 years of protection. Your international registration is valid for an initial period of five years, counting from the date of registration. You can then renew it at least twice, up to the maximum duration of protection allowed by each contracting party.

Yes, you will be able to find your international registration in the International Designs Bulletin (IDB). Note: By default – unless you requested immediate publication or publication at a chosen time – WIPO will publish your international registration in the IDB twelve months after the date of international registration (normally the date on which WIPO received your international application). Find out more about publication options.

Your international registration will also subsequently be available in the Global Design Database.

It is not possible to do this. However, you can file a new international application designating other contracting parties and then claim priority of the earlier (or first) international application. You can do this so long as no more than six months have elapsed since the first filing.

You can request a change in ownership by completing Hague System Form DM/2 and sending it through Contact Hague.

Find out more: Managing international registrations

Information regarding updated international registrations is published in the International Designs Bulletin, the official publication of the Hague System and your authoritative point of reference. The International Designs Bulletin is typically published on Fridays at 12:00. Such updates may not be immediately available in the Global Design Database. Once your change request has been processed, you will receive an official notification from WIPO.

You can request a review or appeal against the refusal. Procedures (language, appointment of a representative, etc.) vary according to the local laws of each contracting party. If your appeal is successful, the office of the designated contracting party will either withdraw the refusal or issue a statement of grant of protection.

If i) WIPO has published your international registration in the International Designs Bulletin and ii) no refusals have been issued within the prescribed time limits then your designs are automatically protected in all designated contracting parties.

The easiest way to renew your registration is by using eHague. Alternatively, you can complete Hague System Form DM/4 and send it through Contact Hague.

Find out more: Filing applications & renewing registrations

WIPO will send a notification advising you of the expiration of your international registration some six months in advance. You should only pay renewal fees at the earliest three months before your international registration expires as individual designation fees may change during the course of the six months due to fluctuating exchange rates. Any such changes would affect the total sum of fees due.

Information regarding updated international registrations, including renewals, may not be immediately available in the Global Design Database. Note: Once your change request has been processed, you will receive an official notification from WIPO. So long as your renewal has been published in the International Designs Bulletin – typically published on Fridays at 12:00 – your rights are assured.

WIPO’s Digital Access Service (DAS) enables the secure exchange of priority documents between participating offices. WIPO participates in DAS as a "depositing office" for international design applications.

If, as applicant or holder, you wish to obtain a certified copy of an international application ("priority document"), you can ask WIPO (through Contact Hague) to provide a DAS code and a PDF copy of the priority document (you will only be charged for the PDF document). This code can then be shared with offices which participate in DAS as ‘Accessing offices’, enabling them to directly retrieve the priority document.

You can submit your request through Contact Hague. Simply select 'Request a DAS code' from the 'My request concerns' drop-down menu. No charges apply.

No, they are only available in the language in which the international application was filed. At the request of the holder or the registered representative, the cover letter to a certified copy may be issued in any of the official languages of the Hague System (English, French and Spanish).

Typically, all fees should be paid when you file your international application. Payment can also be made after filing. However, if the fees have still not been paid when your international application is examined by WIPO, you will receive an irregularity notice inviting you to pay within three months.

Typically, all fees should be paid when you file your international application. However, when requesting deferred publication, the publication fee can be paid after filing, at the latest, three weeks before the period of deferment expires.

You will need to Request a Refund.

No! However, if your international application was the first filing, and no more than six months have elapsed since you filed that application, you can file another (new) international application for the same designs, designating China, and claim priority of the first international application.

Yes, you can file your application directly with WIPO using eHague.

Yes! You can find detailed information on CNIPA’s specific requirements in our Hague System Member Profiles. Find out more: Declarations by contracting parties | Guide to the Hague System

According to domestic Chinese law, you can only include one design per application.

Two exceptions let you include:

1. up to ten similar designs for the same product (e.g. different colors); or
2. multiple designs for products that are sold or used in sets. Note: the designs incorporated in each product must use the same design concept.

Find out more: Guidance on Including Multiples Designs

Yes, you can include up to 100 designs in your international application. However, the IP office of a designated contracting party that has specific unity of design requirements (such as CNIPA), may issue a notification of refusal.

If CNIPA issues a refusal notice on this basis, you can file national divisional applications for the remaining designs direct with CNIPA, keeping the filing date of your international application.

Note: Refusal by one office does not affect your international registration in other designated jurisdictions.

In general, reproductions (drawings, photos, etc.) fall under the umbrella of the formal requirements that only WIPO checks and enforces. China does however require specific views of three-dimensional designs and graphical user interfaces (GUI); if not provided, CNIPA will issue a refusal.

For more information, refer to 'Specific views' in the Guide to the Hague System

You will have to manage the registration that results from those national, divisional applications directly with CNIPA.

Yes, you must appoint a local agent to assist you. The IP offices of Hague System contracting parties typically maintain lists of local representatives. Find out more in our Hague System Member Profiles.

Yes! CNIPA carries out the same substantive examination of international registrations as it does for national registrations. Important! This includes checking for novelty.

Yes, CNIPA will assign a national application number.

Under certain conditions, Chinese law provides for a six-month grace period – counting from the date on which your design was displayed publicly – during which you can file for protection. Should you file your application after that six-month period, CNIPA will issue a refusal based on lack of novelty.

For more information, refer to 'Items 14 (International exhibition) and 15 (Exception to lack of novelty)' in the Guide to the Hague System

No, you will need to file a new application in which you designate China.

Yes, you can have this change in ownership recorded using Hague System Form DM/2.

Your international registration will provide your designs with 15 years of protection in China, counting from the filing date.

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