Hungarian Intellectual Property Office

Glossary of Industrial Property Terms

Hague Agreement

The Hague Agreement Concerning International Deposition of the Industrial Designs was concluded in 1925 in the frame of the World Intellectual Property Organization (hereinafter referred to as "WIPO") whose text was reviewed several times. Hungary has become member of the Agreement in 1984 in London and also ratificated the text reviewed in Hague in 1960. The Law Decree No. 29 of 1984 promulgated these two texts in Hungary.

The advantage of the Agreement is the possibility to claim protection to the same design with only one application at the same time in the Member States which are specified in the application. In this way the procedure has become easier, faster and - due to the standard fees - cheaper. On the ground of the Agreement the industrial design application may be filing with the International Bureau of the WIPO or through the national office of the Contracting State. Thus the international application - by filling out the standard application form of WIPO - can also be filed with the Hungarian Patent Office. The Office forwards the application to the International Bureau of the WIPO upon payment of the special fee.

The protection obtained through the international deposit has the same legal effect in the specified Contracting States as the protection of design granted at the national way. Any of the specified Contracting States, however, can refuse to grant protection with respect to its territory through a declaration towards the International Bureau if the design deposited in the International Bureau does not meet the requirements of granting protection set out in its national laws and regulations.

The Agreement was reviewed in 1999 by WIPO basically for two purposes: to extend the geographical effect of the Agreement through the access of new states; and to improve the system of the international protection of industrial design in order to provide the applicants with a more efficient service respecting the protection of design extended over other states granted in only one procedure. Having authorization on the ground of the Decree No. 2141 of 1999 (23. VI.), Hungary was among the Contracting States In 1999. The text of Geneva, the new one, does not entered into effect yet, but it is expected in 2003.

In 1968 a specialized agreement was concluded concerning the international classification of the industrial design so as to facilitate the implementing of the Hague Agreement. Hungary has been a member of the Locarno Agreement since 1973.