On 18 June 2009, the German Bundestag passed two laws on international design protection. The laws are intended to bring design law (so-called design patent law) up to date internationally and to create the conditions for ratification of the Geneva Act. The Geneva Act modernises the Hague Agreement concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs.
The Hague Agreement creates the possibility of obtaining protection for designs in one or more Member States through a single application to WIPO. Germany has already ratified the Hague Agreement of 1925 and the London and Hague versions of 1934 and 1960 (London and Hague Acts) - which revise the Hague Agreement and apply alongside it. The Geneva Act contains a further revision. In addition to individual countries, the application can now also designate certain international organisations to which protection is to extend. Thus, in future, by designating the European Community, which has already acceded to the Geneva Act, protection can be achieved in all member states.
The Designs Act is supplemented by a section regulating the protection of industrial designs under the Hague Agreement in all three versions. Previously, neither the Designs Act nor other laws contained provisions on this. There are primarily provisions on how international registrations can be filed and what effects the registration has. The declaration of refusal and the possibility of withdrawing protection are also regulated in the new section. In particular, applicants now have the possibility for the first time to file an application under the Hague Agreement also through the German Patent and Trade Mark Office. This represents a simplification for the applicant. Previously, only a direct application to WIPO in Geneva was possible. The new provisions also adapt the provisions on the authorisation of the Federal Ministry of Justice to issue ordinances and amend the Patent Costs Act accordingly for the case of forwarding an international application by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.
Source: Press release of the Federal Ministry of Justice of 18 June 2009
Goldberg Attorneys at Law
Attorney at Law Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
Specialist lawyer for information technology law
E-mail: m.ullrich@goldberg.de
