(Publ. 4 NOV 2019) In September, Vietnam joined the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs as well as both Israel and Samoa in October. By that, there are 73 contracting parties to the Geneva Act, including ARIPO and EUIPO. The relevant treaty will enter into force on December 30^th, 2019, for Vietnam, on January 2^nd, 2020, for Samoa and January 3^rd for Israel.

The Hague system offers centralized management of industrial designs through a single application and allows an applicant to register up to 100 patterns in 73 member states including the European Union. Thus, it offers a cost effective and smooth way to get protection in many markets. You get the same legal protection as if the designs were filed directly with each national office.