Alert reader and experienced design practitioner Richard Stockton tipped me off that today, the Government of Mexico deposited its instrument of accession to the Hague Agreement. This brings the number of members of the Hague system to 74.
This accession has been among the most anticipated of Hague accessions in recent years. I blogged about the imminent accession here (October 21, 2017) and here (December 11, 2017) and here (July 19, 2018) and here (October 2, 2018) and here (October 20, 2018) and here (November 5, 2018). You can see the WIPO press release here.
Mexico joined the Patent Cooperation Treaty on January 1, 1995 and joined the Madrid Protocol on February 19, 2013. Thus, with today’s accession Mexico achieves the trifecta of membership in all three international e-filing systems (patents, trademarks, and designs). The Hague Agreement will enter into force in Mexico on June 6, 2020.
This means that from June 6, 2020, applicants in Mexico will be able to use the Hague system to protect their industrial designs. Likewise applicants in many dozens of countries around the world will from that date be able to use the Hague system to protect their designs in Mexico.
Now that Mexico has joined, perhaps the most eagerly awaited accession is that of China.
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