The Hague Agreement 1925 - The Hague Act of November 28, 1960

Article 22

(1)	The Regulations may be amended either by the Committee as prescribed in Article 21(2)2, or in accordance with the written procedure provided for in paragraph (2), below.

(2)

In the case of written procedure, amendments shall be proposed by the Director of the International Bureau in a circular letter addressed to the Government of each contracting State. The amendments shall be regarded as adopted if, within one year from their communication, no contracting State has raised an objection.

Article 23

(1)	This Agreement shall remain open for signature until December 31, 1961.

(2)	It shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Government of the Netherlands.

Article 24

(1)	States members of the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property which have not signed this Agreement may accede thereto.

(2)	Such accessions shall be notified through diplomatic channels to the Government of the Swiss Confederation, and by the latter to the Governments of all contracting States.

Article 25

(1)	Each contracting State undertakes to provide for the protection of industrial designs and to adopt, in accordance with its constitution, the measures necessary to ensure the application of this Agreement.

(2)	At the time a contracting State deposits its instrument of ratification or accession, it must be in a position under its domestic law to give effect to the provisions of this Agreement.

Article 26

(1)

This Agreement shall enter into force one month after the date on which the Government of the Swiss Confederation has dispatched a notification to the contracting States of the deposit of ten instruments of ratification or accession, at least four of which are those of States which, at the date of the present Agreement, are not party either to the 1925 Agreement or to the 1934 Agreement.

(2)

Thereafter, the deposit of instruments of ratification and accession shall be notified to the contracting States by the Government of the Swiss Confederation. Such ratifications and accessions shall become effective one month after the date of the dispatch of such notification unless, in the case of accession, a later date is indicated in the instrument of accession.

Article 27

Any contracting State may at any time notify the Government of the Swiss Confederation that this Agreement shall also apply to all or part of those territories for the external relations of which it is responsible. Thereupon, the Government of the Swiss Confederation shall communicate such notification to the contracting States and the Agreement shall apply also to the said territories one month after the dispatch of the communication by the Government of the Swiss Confederation to the contracting States unless a later date is indicated in the notification.

Article 28

(1)

Any contracting State may, by notification addressed to the Government of the Swiss Confederation, denounce this Agreement in its own name and on behalf of all or part of the territories designated in the notification under Article 27. Such notification shall take effect one year after its receipt by the Government of the Swiss Confederation.

(2)	Denunciation shall not relieve any contracting State of its obligations under this Agreement in respect of designs deposited at the International Bureau prior to the date on which the denunciation takes effect.

Article 29

(1)	This Agreement shall be submitted to periodical revision with a view to the introduction of amendments designed to improve the protection resulting from the international deposit of designs.

(2)	Revision conferences shall be called at the request of the International Design Committee or of not less than one-half of the contracting States.

Article 30

(1)	Two or more contracting States may at any time notify the Government of the Swiss Confederation that, subject to the conditions indicated in the notification:

1.	a common Office shall be substituted for the national Office of each of them;

2.	they shall be deemed to be a single State for the purposes of the application of Articles 2 to 17 of this Agreement.

(2)	Such notification shall not take effect until six months after the date of dispatch of the communication thereof by the Government of the Swiss Confederation to the other contracting States.

Article 31

(1)

This Agreement alone shall be applicable as regards the mutual relations of States party to both the present Agreement and the 1925 Agreement or the 1934 Agreement. However, such States shall, in their mutual relations, apply the 1925 Agreement or the 1934 Agreement, as the case may be, to designs deposited at the International Bureau prior to the date on which the present Agreement becomes applicable as regards their mutual relations.

(2)

(a)	Any State party to both the present Agreement and the 1925 Agreement shall continue to apply the 1925 Agreement in its relations with States party only to the 1925 Agreement, unless the said State has denounced the 1925 Agreement.

(b)	Any State party to both the present Agreement and the 1934 Agreement shall continue to apply the 1934 Agreement in its relations with States party only to the 1934 Agreement, unless the said State has denounced the 1934 Agreement.

(3)	States party to the present Agreement only shall not be bound to States which, without being party to the present Agreement, are party to the 1925 Agreement or the 1934 Agreement.

Article 32

(1)

Signature and ratification of, or accession to, the present Agreement by a State party, at the date of this Agreement, to the 1925 Agreement or the 1934 Agreement shall be deemed to include signature and ratification of, or accession to, the Protocol annexed to the present Agreement, unless such State makes an express declaration to the contrary at the time of signing or depositing its instrument of accession.

(2)

Any contracting State having made the declaration referred to in paragraph (1), or any other contracting State not party to the 1925 Agreement or the 1934 Agreement, may sign or accede to the Protocol annexed to this Agreement. At the time of signing or depositing its instrument of accession, it may declare that it does not consider itself bound by the provisions of paragraphs 1(2)(a) or 1(2)(b) of the Protocol; in such case, the other States party to the Protocol shall be under no obligation to apply, in their relations with that State, the provisions mentioned in such declaration. The provisions of Articles 23 to 28 inclusive shall apply by analogy.

Article 33

This Act shall be signed in a single copy which shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Netherlands. A certified copy shall be transmitted by the latter to the Government of each State which has signed or acceded to this Agreement.

PROTOCOL

This protocol is not yet in force.

States party to this Protocol have agreed as follows:

(1)	The provisions of this Protocol shall apply to designs which have been the subject of an international deposit and of which one of the States party to this Protocol is deemed to be the State of origin.

(2)	In respect of designs referred to in paragraph (1), above:

(a)	the term of protection granted by States party to this Protocol to the designs referred to in paragraph (1) shall not be less than fifteen years from the date provided for in paragraphs 11(1)(a) or 11(1)(b), as the case may be;

(b)	the appearance of a notice on the articles incorporating the designs or on the tags attached thereto shall in no case be required by the States party to this Protocol, either for the exercise in their territories of rights arising from the international deposit, or for any other purpose.

Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs

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