What Is the Hague Agreement?

The Hague Agreement is an international treaty that allows inventors to file a single design registration application covering up to 90+ countries. It is the design equivalent of the PCT for utility patents — a centralised filing mechanism that simplifies and reduces the cost of obtaining design protection across multiple markets.

Administered by WIPO, the Hague system lets an applicant file one application, in one language, with one set of fees, designating any combination of member countries and regional organisations.

How the Hague System Works

1. File a single application with WIPO's International Bureau, either directly or through your national IP office. The application includes representations (drawings or photographs) of the design, the applicant's details, and the designated countries.

1. WIPO conducts a formal examination — checking that the application meets formal requirements. WIPO does not examine novelty or individual character (that is left to national offices, where applicable).

1. The design is registered and published in the WIPO International Designs Bulletin. Publication can be deferred for up to 30 months from the filing date (or 6 months in some designations) — useful for inventors who want to register protection before publicly revealing the design.

1. Each designated country decides independently whether to grant protection. Some countries (like the US) conduct substantive examination; others (like the EU) register the design without examination. Countries that refuse protection must notify WIPO within a set period.

Key Members

The Hague system covers most major design markets, including the European Union (through EUIPO), the United States, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and many others. China acceded to the Hague Agreement in 2022, significantly expanding the system's commercial importance.

Notable absences include India, Brazil, and several Southeast Asian countries — though the membership list continues to grow.

Cost Advantages

Filing design registrations individually in 10 countries requires 10 separate applications, 10 sets of fees, and often 10 local attorneys. The Hague system replaces this with a single filing. WIPO's fee structure is transparent: a base fee (currently CHF 397) plus per-designation fees that vary by country.

A single Hague application designating the EU, US, Japan, South Korea, and China costs substantially less than filing separately in each — and eliminates the coordination complexity of managing multiple national filings.

Multiple Designs in One Application

The Hague system allows up to 100 designs to be included in a single application, provided they all belong to the same Locarno Classification class (the international classification system for industrial designs). This is valuable for product lines — an inventor can register the design of a chair, a table, and a shelf in one application if they are all classified as furniture.

Relationship to National Design Rights

A Hague registration produces national design rights in each designated country — the same legal effect as a design filed directly at the national office. Enforcement, infringement assessment, and validity challenges are all handled under each country's national law. The Hague system is a filing mechanism, not a separate type of right.

Sources

1. WIPO Hague System — Complete guide to the Hague international design registration system
2. WIPO Hague Member States — List of countries participating in the Hague system
3. 35 U.S.C. § 171 — Design Patents — US design patent law (US joined Hague in 2015)
4. EUIPO Registered Community Design — EU design registration through the Hague system