Hague System: Wrapping up 2021 and a Sneak Peek at 2022

December 29, 2021

Despite another year spent largely working remotely for so many of us, Hague System operations and services have continued to run smoothly throughout 2021. Looking back over the year, in case you missed out…

Accessions in 2021

Belarus joined the Hague System in April, with the 1999 Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement coming into force on July 19, 2021. And, Jamaica is the latest country to join, increasing our global coverage to 93 countries (or export markets). Starting February 10, 2022, you will be able to designate Jamaica in your international applications.

Launch of eHague

In February, we launched eHague, providing you with centralized, digital access to our online services for filing international design applications and renewing international registrations.

In line with our ultimate goal – to give you real-time, secure and direct digital access to your complete Hague System design portfolio – we will be adding more services in 2022. Keep reading!

Website enhancements

We have been enhancing our web content and extending the range of information available throughout the year. Some of the top new features:

• Concise information on using the Hague System – from filing international applications and renewing registrations to managing registrations and searching protected designs;
  
  
• Everything that potential contracting parties need to know about joining the Hague System.

Designs in Action

Our new Hague System stories, launched mid-year, showcase designs in action. Featuring a range of designs protected through the Hague System, the stories provide you with insights into how designs work in the real world, and how they can help you obtain wider market recognition and increase your global competitiveness.

Many more stories will follow in 2022 so check back often.

Hague System Member Profiles

In September, we launched a revamped version of our Hague System Member Profiles. With a new, modern look and feel and enhanced layout and content, it’s even easier for you to look up all the country-specific general and legal information you need when filing an international design application or managing an international design registration.

New guidance on including multiple designs in one application

To help you avoid potential refusals based on unity of design-requirements, we published new guidance on including multiple designs in one application.

Webinars – Bringing the Hague System to you

We were pleased to welcome many of you to our 2021 Hague System webinars. These are valuable opportunities for us to interact with you directly and answer all your questions. We hope you’ve enjoyed our new check-in / check-out questions, helping you to gauge how much you've learnt!

If you missed out, you can access recordings of all public webinars via our Webinars Archive page.

Coming up in 2022

We have some exciting developments lined up for 2022 including:

New options for timing the publication of your international registrations

As most of you will be aware, on January 1, 2022, we will increase the default “standard publication” of international registrations to twelve months, giving you more time to plan your marketing strategy whilst keeping your designs confidential.

Other new options will provide you with greater flexibility and control in timing the publication of your international registrations to suit your business needs.

Find out more about new publication options.

New digital Hague System Information Kit

To kick off the year, we will be launching our new customer-based digital Hague System Information Kit. The Kit – which will provide concise and attractive information about the Hague System, its tools and resources – will include interactive features and new mini video content. A print version will also be made available.

We will start by launching the Kit in English, French and Spanish. Other language versions will quickly follow. We hope that you enjoy this new feature.

Extending eHague

As promised, we will be extending the range of functions available through eHague:

• As of February 2022, you will be able to directly update representative name and contact details through eHague using a secure electronic signature and approval process. (You can currently only do this as a paper process using Hague System Form DM/8.);

• You will be able to view the processing status of your international applications in real-time;
  
  
• Later in the year, we will be adding additional self-service functions including management of holder contact details (currently only possible using Hague System Form DM/6);
  
  
• And, to provide you with additional security, we will be introducing multi-factor authentication across all eHague self-services (file, renew, manage representative and holder information).

You will also notice during the year that more of our Hague System tools take the WIPO IP Portal look and feel. This is to ensure a smooth as possible user experience for you across our suite of services.

New accessions

We are looking forward to welcoming a number of additional countries to our ever-growing family of Hague System contracting parties, further expanding the coverage of international protection for your designs. Stay tuned! (If you are not yet a subscriber, sign up to receive our free email updates.)

New Hague System web services for IP offices

During the second quarter of 2022, we will be launching new bi-directional, machine-to-machine secure data exchange with Hague System IP offices in order to streamline procedures and make the processing of office decisions ever more efficient.