Hague Agreement – Page 7 – Ant-Like Persistence

March 27, 2016

Time of day at RO/IB returns to normal for US filers

On March 13 I blogged that US filers filing PCT applications in RO/IB needed to pay extra close attention to what time it is in Switzerland. The reason is that in the US, Daylight Saving Time happened on March 13. But did not happen on that day in Switzerland. This meant that for the past two weeks, a US-based filer in (for example) the Mountain Time zone would be able to e-file in RO/IB as late as 5PM and still get a same-day filing date. This differed from the usual drop-dead time of 4PM.

Today (March 27, 2016) is the day that Daylight Saving Time happens in Switzerland. The consequence of this is that the time difference between the US filer’s time zone and the time in RO/IB is back to normal. So for a US-based filer in the Mountain Time zone, the drop-dead time returns today to the usual 4PM.

This change also affects a US-based filer filing a design application in the IB’s Hague Agreement e-filing system.

April 3, 2015

The two receptions that you need to attend in San Diego in May

Will you be in San Diego at the time of the INTA annual meeting? If so, there are two receptions that you won’t want to miss.

Continue reading “The two receptions that you need to attend in San Diego in May”

April 2, 2015

Hague rules published

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.

March 13, 2015

Speaking at the NAPP Annual Meeting

I’ll be speaking at the 2015 annual meeting of the National Association of Patent Practitioners. The meeting is July 11-14 in Denver.

Continue reading “Speaking at the NAPP Annual Meeting”

March 7, 2015

This weekend and your filings at WIPO

This weekend is when Americans (well, most Americans) change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time. This makes a big difference if you are going to e-file something at WIPO or fax-file something at WIPO.

Continue reading “This weekend and your filings at WIPO”

February 15, 2015

Countdown to the Hague Agreement in the US

Here is a countdown to the date (May 13) when the US will belong to the Hague Agreement.

February 14, 2015

US makes more progress toward the Hague Agreement

The Hague Agreement is the international filing system for design protection that corresponds to the PCT filing system for international utility patent protection and the Madrid filing system for international trademark protection. The progress of the United States toward membership and participation in the Hague Agreement has been slow and at times tortuous. As I blogged here, President Clinton signed the treaty in 1999. Many years passed before the Senate ratified it in 2007. Congress needed to pass enabling legislation which finally happened in 2012. Next the USPTO needed to promulgate proposed Rules, which it did in 2013. The next important step was for the United States to deposit an “instrument of accession” to the Agreement with WIPO.

Interestingly somehow the United States and Japan managed to coordinate their efforts, and the two countries deposited their instruments of accession on the same day, Friday, February 13, 2015. You can see WIPO’s press release here. And at right is a photograph (courtesy of WIPO) showing the historic event. You can see US Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto handing the Instrument of Accession to WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.

Continue reading “US makes more progress toward the Hague Agreement”

November 8, 2014

USPTO adds Hague functionality to PAIR

The USPTO has made some preparations for the eventual accession by the USPTO to the Hague Agreement. One preparation is picking the new “series code” (my blog here) that USPTO will use to denote that a US application came from Hague. Another preparation is a new search functionality in PAIR, as you may see in the screen shot.

Continue reading “USPTO adds Hague functionality to PAIR”

November 8, 2014

New USPTO “series code” for Hague Agreement cases

Those whose practice includes “inbound” Madrid Protocol trademark applications are accustomed to the series code “79”. When you see a USPTO application number that starts with “79” you know that it is a trademark application number and that it came to the USPTO from the International Bureau of WIPO. Someone who filed a Madrid Protocol trademark application (in a place other than the USPTO) must have designated the US.

Now the USPTO has picked the series code that it will use for Hague Agreement applications.

Continue reading “New USPTO “series code” for Hague Agreement cases”

October 29, 2014

US progress toward the Hague Agreement

(See update posting here.)

The Hague system, as most readers know, is the one-stop shopping system for filing applications to protect industrial designs around the world. It is somewhat of a counterpart in the industrial design world to the PCT (for utility patents) and Madrid Protocol (for trademarks). What is the progress of the US toward the Hague system? When will people in the US actually be able to file Hague applications? When will people around the world be able to designate the US when they file Hague applications? Continue reading “US progress toward the Hague Agreement”