International Industrial Design Registrations in 2002
Geneva, February 7, 2003
Press Updates UPD/2003/184
The number of industrial designs for which protection was sought under the Hague System for the International Deposit of Industrial Designs remained steady in 2002 with the registration of 20,705 designs.
The top ten users of the Hague system in 2002 in terms of design registrations are the following companies: Swatch, Interior's SA, Sony, Unilever, Daimler Chrysler, Moulinex, Philips Consumer Communications, Hermes, Philips Electronics and Porsche.
In 2002, Ukraine became a member of the Hague System and ratified the 1999 Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement. This new Act introduces features to the international design registration system that will potentially enlarge the membership of the Hague System, as it will accommodate the national laws of countries which have so far remained outside the system (see PR/99/180). It will enter into force when ratified or acceded by six countries, of which at least three must have a certain level of activity in the field of industrial design protection.
Seven countries (Estonia, Iceland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine) have already ratified or acceded to the Geneva Act, of which two meet this required threshold of design registration activity.
Since January 2002, users have also benefited from an average 10% reduction in registration fees resulting from the introduction of a simplified method for calculating these fees.
The Hague system offers owners of industrial designs a simplified, quick and inexpensive means of applying for protection of a design in several countries by submitting a single international application. Without the system an owner would have to file separate applications in each of the countries in which protection was sought.
An industrial design is the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of a useful article, in other words, those features of an article which make it attractive and appealing and add to its commercial value and increase its marketability. Industrial designs are of significant economic interest to commercial enterprises.
The advantages of industrial design protection are:
- the owner is able to prevent unauthorized copying or imitation of his or her design by third parties. In addition, as industrial designs add to the commercial value of a product and facilitate its marketing and commercialization, their protection helps ensure that a fair return on investment is obtained.
- protection of industrial designs encourages fair competition and honest trade practices. It leads to the production of more aesthetically attractive and diversified products, thereby broadening consumer choice.
- industrial design protection acts as a spur to a country's economic development by contributing to the expansion of commercial activities and by enhancing the export potential of national products.
- as industrial designs can be relatively simple and inexpensive to develop and to protect, they are reasonably accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises, even to individual artists and craftsmen, in both industrialized and developing countries. Under the Hague system, users may include up to as many as 100 designs in each international application that is made.
For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:
- Tel: (+41 22) - 338 81 61 or 338 95 47
- Fax: (+41 22) - 338 88 10
- Email: publicinf@wipo.int.