Press Release: Industrial property: EU joins international designs treaty

The European Community has submitted to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in Geneva its instrument of accession to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement concerning the international registration of industrial designs. This accession will allow EU companies, with a single application, to obtain protection of a design not only throughout the EU with the Community Design, but also in the countries which are members of the Geneva Act. It will simplify procedures, reduce the costs for international protection and make administration easier. The system will become operational for businesses on 1 January 2008.