Accession to the 1999 Act: China
1. On February 5, 2022, the Government of China deposited with the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) its instrument of accession to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs ("1999 Act").
2. The instrument of accession was accompanied by the following declarations made under the 1999 Act and the Common Regulations under the 1999 Act and the 1960 Act of the Hague Agreement ("Common Regulations"): - the declaration referred to in Article 5(2)(a) of the 1999 Act, according to which any international application designating China shall contain a brief description of the characteristic features of the design in accordance with Article 5(2)(b)(ii);
- the declaration referred to in Article 7(2) of the 1999 Act, indicating that, in respect of any international application designating China, and in respect of the renewal of any international registration resulting from such international application, the prescribed designation fee shall be replaced by an individual designation fee. The details of the declaration and the amount of the individual designation fee shall be the subject of a separate Notice;
- the declaration referred to in Article 13(1) of the 1999 Act, whereby, according to Chinese law, "an application for registration of a design shall be limited to one design. Two or more similar designs for the same product or two or more designs which are incorporated in products belonging to the same class and sold or used together may be included in a single application. When two or more similar designs of the same product are included in a single application, the other designs must be similar to the one indicated as the principal design and the total number of designs must not exceed 10. In the case, mentioned above, where two or more designs are incorporated in products belonging to the same class and sold or used together, all the products must belong to the same class of the International Classification for Industrial Designs and usually be sold or used at the same time, and the designs incorporated in each product must show the same design concept.";
- the declaration referred to in Article 16(2)(2) of the 1999 Act, whereby the recording of a change in the ownership of an international registration in the International Register shall not take effect in China until the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has received the documents supporting the change;
- the declaration required under Article 17(3)(c) of the 1999 Act, notifying that the maximum duration of protection provided by the law of China for designs is 15 years;
- the statement referred to in Rule 9(3)(a) of the Common Regulations that "for each international application designating China, in respect of a product with a three-dimensional design, or if the essential design features of the product design relate only to a graphical user interface (GUI), the applicant shall submit a view or views of the product complying with the corresponding requirements;
- the statement referred to in Rule 18(1)(b) of the Common Regulations, notifying that the prescribed time limit of six months for the notification of a refusal of the effects of an international registration is replaced by a time limit of 12 months;
- the statement referred to in Rule 18(1)(c)(i) of the Common Regulations that the international registration shall have the effects referred to in Article 14(2)(a) of the 1999 Act from the date on which protection is granted under the law of China, but within six months from the date of expiry of the 12-month refusal period; and
- the declaration referred to in Rule 18(1)(c)(ii) of the Common Regulations, notifying that the international registration shall have the effect referred to in Article 14(2)(a) of the 1999 Act in China from the date on which protection is granted under the law of China, where, for unintentional reasons, a decision concerning the grant of protection was not communicated within the 12-month refusal period.
3. In addition, the Government of China declared that, in accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, the 1999 Act shall not apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China and the Macao Special Administrative Region of China, unless otherwise notified by the Government of China.
4. Pursuant to Article 28(3)(b) of the 1999 Act, the 1999 Act and the declarations made shall enter into force in respect of China on May 5, 2022. The accession of China to the 1999 Act brings the number of Contracting Parties to the 1999 Act to 68 and the total number of Contracting Parties to the Hague Agreement to 77.
Have you already filed an international application and wish to extend protection to China?
If your international application is the first application filed and no more than six months have elapsed since its filing, you may file another (new) international application for the same designs, designating China, and claim the priority of the first international application.
Source: WIPO
