Category Archives: Hague Agreement

Today is the day! Israel now belongs to Hague Agreement

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Yes, today is the day that the Hague Agreement enters into force in Israel.  This is an important development for the Hague system, which is the international filing mechanism for protection of industrial designs.

I blogged about this imminent development in Israel back on October 8, 2019.

As of today, companies and designers from Israel can begin using the Hague system to protect their industrial designs.  The applicant can pursue protection in many countries through a single international application and a single set of fees.

Likewise from today, those located outside of Israel will be able to seek design protection in Israel through the Hague system.

The two-letter code is “IL”.

Today is the day for Viet Nam and the Hague Agreement

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It will be recalled that I blogged recently that Viet Nam deposited its instrument of accession to the Hague Agreement on September 30, 2019.  Thus today is the day.  The Hague Agreement enters into force for Viet Nam today.

Today Viet Nam achieves the trifecta, with membership in the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Madrid Protocol, and now the Hague Agreement.

The two-letter code for Viet Nam is “VN”.

e-filing at WIPO — back to normal

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For the past week the situation for e-filing at WIPO, for most people in the US, has been that the local time to e-file so as to get a same-day filing date in Switzerland has been different from usual.  (The reason for this is that a week ago, people in Switzerland turned their clocks back.) But as of today, people in the US have turned their clocks back.  So things are back to normal.

For example if you are in the Mountain time zone, once again as of today you will be counting toward 4PM local time to get a same-day filing date in Switzerland.  (For the past week the answer was 5PM.)

Viet Nam joins the Hague Agreement

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Recently I blogged that Samoa joined the Hague Agreement on October 2, 2019 and that Israel joined the Hague Agreement on October 3, 2019.  Somehow I overlooked that just a few days earlier, on September 30, 2019, Viet Nam joined the Hague Agreement.

The Hague system will enter into force for Viet Nam on December 30, 2019.

As of December 30, 2019, companies and designers from Viet Nam can begin using the Hague System to protect their industrial designs. The applicant can pursue protection in many countries through a single international application and a single set of fees.

Likewise from December 30, 2019, those located outside of Viet Nam will be able to seek design protection in Viet Nam through the Hague System.

I had blogged on October 21, 2017 that Viet Nam was getting ready to join the Hague Agreement and indeed now it has happened.

Viet Nam joined the Patent Cooperation Treaty on March 10, 1993 and joined the Madrid Protocol on July 11, 2006.   Viet Nam thus completes the trifecta of membership in all three international intellectual property filing platforms.

The two-letter code for Viet Nam is “VN”.

Samoa joins the Hague Agreement

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On Wednesday, October 2, 2019 Samoa deposited its Instrument of Accession to the Hague Agreement.

The Agreement will enter into force in Samoa on Thursday, January 2, 2020.

This brings to 72 the number of contracting parties to the Hague Agreement.

As of January 2, 2020, companies and designers from Samoa can begin using the Hague System to protect their industrial designs. The applicant can pursue protection in many countries through a single international application and a single set of fees.

Likewise from January 2, 2020, those located outside of Samoa will be able to seek design protection in Samoa through the Hague System.

Samoa will join the Patent Cooperation Treaty on January 2, 2020 and joined the Madrid Protocol on March 4, 2019.   Samoa will thus complete the trifecta of membership in all three international intellectual property filing platforms.

The two-letter code for Samoa is “WS”.

Israel joins the Hague system

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On Thursday, October 3, 2019 Israel deposited its Instrument of Accession to the Hague Agreement.

The Agreement will enter into force in Israel on Friday, January 3, 2020.

I blogged back on October 21, 2017 that Israel was going to join Hague Real Soon Now, and finally it has happened.

This brings to 73 the number of contracting parties to the Hague Agreement.

As of January 3, 2020, companies and designers from Israel can begin using the Hague System to protect their industrial designs. The applicant can pursue protection in many countries through a single international application and a single set of fees.

Likewise from January 3, 2020, those located outside of Israel will be able to seek design protection in Israel through the Hague System.

Israel joined the Patent Cooperation Treaty on June 1, 1996 and joined the Madrid Protocol on September 1, 2010.   Israel has thus completed the trifecta of membership in all three international intellectual property filing platforms.

The two-letter code for Israel is “IL”.

e-filing at WIPO — back to normal

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For the past three weeks the situation for e-filing at WIPO has been that the local time to e-file so as to get a same-day filing date in Switzerland has been different from usual.  But today the people in Switzerland have turned their clocks forward.  So things are back to normal.

For example if you are in the Mountain time zone, once again as of today you will be counting toward 4PM local time to get a same-day filing date in Switzerland.  (For the past three weeks the answer was 5PM.)

Whither Daylight Saving Time?

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More than five hours have passed since my blog posting that points out that right now you probably have an extra hour for e-filing of stuff at the International Bureau of WIPO.  Why do you have this extra hour?  You have this extra hour because probably you are in the US and you set your clocks forward.  And (this is the important part) the folks in Switzerland did not pick today to set their clocks forward.  (They will set their clocks forward in about three weeks, on March 31.)

Anyway, during this past five hours I sort of figured that at least one alert reader would have posted a comment about the imminent demise of Daylight Saving Time.  Yet, astonishingly, this has not happened!  So I will now discuss the imminent demise of Daylight Saving Time. Continue reading →