President Obama signed the act enabling the US to join the Hague Agreement on December 18, 2012. Would-be users of the Hague Agreement have thus been waiting for more than two years for the Final Rules implementing the Hague Agreement. Today the USPTO published the Final Rules.
In coming days and weeks I will post comments and observations about the new Rules. If you’ve not already done so, I invite you to subscribe to this blog so that you will see the comments and observations.
Hi Carl, Looking forward to your thoughts on how joining the Hague will change the filing strategies of folks in the U.S. Specifically, when the applicant would like to file with several Hague contracting states, the UK, and non-contracting states such as China and/or India. Do you think the Hague will provide significant filing and prosecution cost savings in those scenarios? Thanks!
Thanks for posting. I plan to do a couple of CLE webinars in the next couple of weeks — an introductory program about Hague for US filers, and a more advanced program about Hague for US filers. And at least one webinar for European practitioners offering tips on how they might structure their Hague filings to maximize chances of success with a US designation.