USPTO Proposes Changes to Implement the Hague Agreement Concerning International Registration of Industrial Designs | Practical Law

USPTO Proposes Changes to Implement the Hague Agreement Concerning International Registration of Industrial Designs | Practical Law

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for changes to its rules of patent practice to implement the Hague Agreement concerning international registration of industrial designs.

USPTO Proposes Changes to Implement the Hague Agreement Concerning International Registration of Industrial Designs

by Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology
Published on 27 Nov 2013 • USA (National/Federal)
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for changes to its rules of patent practice to implement the Hague Agreement concerning international registration of industrial designs.
On November 27, 2013, the USPTO issued a notice of proposed rulemaking with proposed changes to its rules of patent practice to implement Title I of the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (PLTIA) (78 FR 71870-01 (Nov. 29, 2013)).
Under the Hague Agreement, an applicant can apply for design protection in all member countries and with intergovernmental organizations by filing a single, standardized international design application in a single language. Title I of the PLTIA amends Title 35 to implement the Hague Agreement provisions by:
  • Standardizing formal requirements for international design applications.
  • Establishing the USPTO as an office through which international design applications may be filed.
  • Providing a right of priority for international design applications.
  • Treating an international design application that designates the US as having the same effect from its filing date as that of a national design application.
  • Providing provisional rights for published international design applications that designate the US. somet
  • Setting the patent term for design patents issuing from both US national design applications and international design applications designating the US to 15 years from the date of patent grant.
  • Providing for examination by the USPTO of international design applications that designate the US.
  • Excusing, under certain circumstances as to the US, an applicant's failure to act within prescribed time limits in an international design application.
Consequently, the USPTO proposes to revise its rules of patent practice to provide for:
  • The filing of international design applications by US applicants in the USPTO as an office of indirect filing.
  • The formal requirements of an international design application including specific content requirements where the US is designated.
  • The examination of international design applications that designate the US.
  • The review of a filing date established by the International Bureau.
  • The excusing of an applicant's failure to act within prescribed time limits in connection with an international design application.
  • The payment of fees.
  • The treatment of international design applications for national security review.
Written comments are due by January 28, 2014. Comments will be available for public inspection at the Office of the Commissioner for Patents and for viewing online at the USPTO's website and at http://www.regulations.gov.