United States and Japan join the Hague system for the International Registration of Industrial Design

The Hague Agreement offers a cost-effective and efficient means of registration of industrial designs via a single application for all States Parties which are members of the Paris Convention or the World Trade Organization. As expected for a long time in February the US and Japan finally joined the Hague Agreement, which now has 64 Members. The agreement for both countries entered into force on May 13, 2015 and from that date applicants may obtain international design protection in the United States and Japan through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).