International Design Patent Application Open to U.S. Applicants
As of May 13, 2015, applicants in the United States can file an “international design patent” application: a new type of application that allows design registration in up to 64 countries with a single filing. The “Hague” application, created by the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement, provides filers with a streamlined and potentially cost-saving filing method to seek design patent protection in multiple jurisdictions using a single application. The recent ratification of the Hague Agreement by the United States now enables U.S. design filers to take advantage of the Hague application process.
