CHAPTER 1
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Rule 1
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(1) [References to the Act] (a) For the purposes of these Regulations, the Act means the Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs adopted at Geneva on July .., 1999.
(b) In these Regulations, the word Article refers to the specified Article of the Act.
(2) [Abbreviated Expressions] For the purposes of these Regulations,
(i) an expression which is referred to in Article 1 has the same meaning as in the Act;
(ii) Administrative Instructions means the Administrative Instructions referred to in Rule 31;
(iii) official form means a form established by the International Bureau or any form having the same contents and format;
[Rule 1(2), continued]
(iv) prescribed fee means the applicable fee set out in the Schedule of Fees;
(v) legal entity means a corporation, association or other group or organization which, under the law applicable to it, is capable of acquiring rights, assuming obligations and suing or being sued in a court of law; a legal entity is considered to be a national of the State in which it is incorporated or under whose law it is organized;
(vi) Bulletin means the periodical bulletin in which the International Bureau effects the publications provided for in the Act or these Regulations, whatever the medium used.
Rule 2
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(1) [Communication in Writing; Several Documents in One Envelope] (a) Communications addressed to the International Bureau shall be effected in writing by typewriter or other machine and shall be signed.
(b) If several documents are mailed in one envelope, they should be accompanied by a list identifying each of them.
(2) [Signature] A signature shall be handwritten, printed or stamped; it may be replaced by the affixing of a seal.
(3) [Communications by Telefacsimile] Any communication may be addressed to the International Bureau by telefacsimile, provided that, where the communication must be presented on an official form, the official form is used for the purposes of the telefacsimile communication.
(4) [Acknowledgment and Date of Receipt of Telefacsimile by the International Bureau] (a) The International Bureau shall promptly and by telefacsimile inform the sender of a telefacsimile communication of the receipt of that communication, and, where the telefacsimile communication received is incomplete or illegible, of that fact also, provided that the sender can be identified and can be reached by telefacsimile.
[Rule 2(4), continued]
(b) Where a communication is transmitted by telefacsimile and, because of the time difference between the place from where the communication is transmitted and Geneva, the date on which the transmittal started is different from the date of receipt by the International Bureau of the complete communication, the earlier of the two dates shall be considered as the date of receipt by the International Bureau.
Rule 3
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(1) [Representative; Address of Representative; Number of Representatives] (a) The applicant or the holder may have a representative before the International Bureau.
(b) Only one representative may be appointed in respect of a given international application or international registration. Where the appointment indicates several representatives, only the one indicated first shall be considered to be a representative and be recorded as such.
(c) Where a partnership or firm composed of attorneys or patent or trademark agents has been indicated as representative to the International Bureau, it shall be regarded as one representative.
(2) [Appointment of the Representative] (a) The appointment of a representative may be made in the international application, provided that the application is signed by the applicant.
(b) The appointment of a representative may also be made in a separate communication which may relate to one or more specified international applications or international registrations of the same applicant or holder. The said communication shall be signed by the applicant or the holder.
[Rule 3(2), continued]
(c) Where the International Bureau considers that the appointment of a representative is irregular, it shall notify accordingly the applicant or holder and the purported representative.
(3) [Recordal and Notification of Appointment of a Representative; Effective Date of Appointment] (a) Where the International Bureau finds that the appointment of a representative complies with the applicable requirements, it shall record the fact that the applicant or holder has a representative, as well as the name and address of the representative, in the International Register. In such a case, the effective date of the appointment shall be the date on which the International Bureau received the international application or separate communication in which the representative is appointed.
(b) The International Bureau shall notify the recordal referred to in subparagraph (a) to both the applicant or holder and the representative.
(4) [Effect of Appointment of a Representative] (a) Except where these Regulations expressly provide otherwise, the signature of a representative recorded under paragraph (3)(a) shall replace the signature of the applicant or holder.
(b) Except where these Regulations expressly require that an invitation, notification or other communication be addressed to both the applicant or holder and the representative, the International Bureau shall address to the representative recorded under paragraph (3)(a) any invitation, notification or other communication which, in the absence of a representative, would
[Rule 3(4)(b), continued]
have to be sent to the applicant or holder; any invitation, notification or other communication so addressed to the said representative shall have the same effect as if it had been addressed to the applicant or holder.
(c) Any communication addressed to the International Bureau by the representative recorded under paragraph (3)(a) shall have the same effect as if it had been addressed to the said Bureau by the applicant or holder.
(5) [Cancellation of Recordal; Effective Date of Cancellation] (a) Any recordal under paragraph (3)(a) shall be canceled where cancellation is requested in a communication signed by the applicant, holder or representative. The recordal shall be canceled ex officio by the International Bureau where a new representative is appointed or where a change in ownership is recorded and no representative is appointed by the new holder of the international registration.
(b) The cancellation shall be effective from the date on which the International Bureau receives the corresponding communication.
(c) The International Bureau shall notify the cancellation and its effective date to the representative whose recordal has been canceled and to the applicant or holder.
Rule 4
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(1) [Periods Expressed in Years] Any period expressed in years shall expire, in the relevant subsequent year, in the month having the same name and on the day having the same number as the month and the day of the event from which the period starts to run, except that, where the event occurred on February 29 and in the relevant subsequent year February ends on the 28th, the period shall expire on February 28.
(2) [Periods Expressed in Months] Any period expressed in months shall expire, in the relevant subsequent month, on the day which has the same number as the day of the event from which the period starts to run, except that, where the relevant subsequent month has no day with the same number, the period shall expire on the last day of that month.
(3) [Periods Expressed in Days] The calculation of any period expressed in days shall start with the day following the day on which the relevant event occurred and shall expire accordingly.
(4) [Expiry on a Day on Which the International Bureau or an Office Is Not Open to the Public] If a period expires on a day on which the International Bureau or the Office concerned is not open to the public, the period shall, notwithstanding paragraphs (1) to (3), expire on the first subsequent day on which the International Bureau or the Office concerned is open to the public.
Rule 5
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(1) [Communications Sent Through a Postal Service] Failure by an interested party to meet a time limit for a communication addressed to the International Bureau and mailed through a postal service shall be excused if the interested party submits evidence showing, to the satisfaction of the International Bureau,
(i) that the communication was mailed at least five days prior to the expiry of the time limit, or, where the postal service was, on any of the ten days preceding the day of expiry of the time limit, interrupted on account of war, revolution, civil disorder, strike, natural calamity, or other like reason, that the communication was mailed not later than five days after postal service was resumed,
(ii) that the mailing of the communication was registered, or details of the mailing were recorded, by the postal service at the time of mailing, and
(iii) in cases where not all classes of mail normally reach the International Bureau within two days of mailing, that the communication was mailed by a class of mail which normally reaches the International Bureau within two days of mailing or by airmail.
[Rule 5, continued]
(2) [Communications Sent Through a Delivery Service] Failure by an interested party to meet a time limit for a communication addressed to the International Bureau and sent through a delivery service shall be excused if the interested party submits evidence showing, to the satisfaction of the International Bureau,
(i) that the communication was sent at least five days prior to the expiry of the time limit, or, where the delivery service was, on any of the ten days preceding the day of expiry of the time limit, interrupted on account of war, revolution, civil disorder, natural calamity, or other like reason, that the communication was sent not later than five days after the delivery service was resumed, and
(ii) that details of the sending of the communication were recorded by the delivery service at the time of sending.
(3) [Limitation on Excuse] Failure to meet a time limit shall be excused under this Rule only if the evidence referred to in paragraph (1) or (2) and the communication or a duplicate thereof are received by the International Bureau not later than six months after the expiry of the time limit.
Rule 6
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(1) [International Application] The international application shall be in English or French.
(2) [Recordal and Publication] The recordal in the International Register and the publication in the Bulletin of the international registration and of any data to be both recorded and published under these Regulations in respect of that international registration shall be in English and French. The recordal and publication of the international registration shall indicate the language in which the international application was received by the International Bureau.
(3) [Communications] Any communication concerning an international application or the international registration resulting therefrom shall be
(i) in English or French where such communication is addressed to the International Bureau by the applicant or holder, or by an Office;
(ii) in the language of the international application where the communication is addressed by the International Bureau to an Office, unless that Office has notified the International Bureau that all such communications are to be in English or that all such communications are to be in French;
[Rule 6(3), continued]
(iii) in the language of the international application where the communication is addressed by the International Bureau to the applicant or holder unless, following a change in ownership, the new holder has expressed the wish to receive all such communications in English although the international application was in French, or vice versa.