A patent for an industrial design has territorial effect.
To obtain protection of industrial design outside of Ukraine, it is necessary apply for patent in each country of interest according to the national procedure.
If the applicant wishes to register a patent in several countries, it is advisable to submit a single application for the registration of a patent on the Hague system to the national or International Office (WIPO), indicating the countries of interest to the agreement, provided the applicant is a citizen of one of the Contracting States.
The advantages of registering an industrial design for the Hague system are:
- payment of a single fee to WIPO and an additional payment for each selected country;
- Further communication on the application is directly with WIPO;
- international registration has the same effect in each of the countries concerned, as if the sample were registered separately in each of them;
- the possibility of combining in one application several variants of the industrial design, provided that they belong to the same class of the Locarno classification.
The drawback of the Hague system is that not all countries are parties to the Hague Agreement. Patenting in such countries is carried out by filing an application with the national patent office.
The application for an industrial design for the Hague system should contain:
- application for international registration;
- information about the applicant;
- images;
- list of countries in which protection is sought;
- a document confirming the payment of the fees for filing.
The date of receipt of the application is considered the date of receipt of the application by the International Bureau, provided that the fee is paid.
Examination on the merits is carried out by the departments of those countries, whose legislation provides for this within 6 months from the date of filing. If no decision is made during this period to refuse, the patent shall be deemed issued and valid from the date of its registration in the International Register. If a country refuses to register, the applicant has the right to appeal to the national patent office of that country.
If an examination of an industrial design is not provided, the patent shall be deemed registered from the date of the international registration.
The term of industrial design protection under the Hague system depends on the legislation of countries, but can not be less than 5 years from the date of the international registration.
The validity of the international registration can be renewed every five years by paying a fee for renewal.