Phl to accede with Hague Agreement in 2024
With the Hague System, a local designer would have a way to protect their IDs in multiple jurisdictions through a simplified international filing system
Daily TribuneWith the Hague System, a local designer would have a way to protect their IDs in multiple jurisdictions through a simplified international filing system
The Philippines is set to comply with the Hague Agreement and the international design system that protects the work of designers, also providing a practical business solution for registering up to 100 designs in 96 countries by filing a single international application.
In a statement, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines director-general Atty. Rowel Barba said the mulled accession to the Hague Agreement in 2024 would make local designers enjoy an easier and more cost-efficient way to protect their designs worldwide.
Under the Hague Agreement, a designer can file a single ID application with minimal paperwork directly to the World Intellectual Property Organization through their eHague online system.
The system requires a single set of requirements and payment through a single currency (Swiss francs). The centralized management system also allows the applicant flexibility in targeting national or regional markets.
The Hague System
"With the Hague System, a local designer would have a way to protect their IDs in multiple jurisdictions through a simplified international filing system. This can prove to be advantageous, especially for our small and medium enterprises who can avail of the services of the Hague System and enjoy lower cost in filing fees compared with filing individually in each country," said IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba.
"We encourage more designers to take advantage of this once in place, hopefully, next year upon our accession," Barba said.
To date, there are 79 member states — or 96 countries as inter-governmental organizations are also allowed to accede to the Agreement — under the Hague System. Upon its accession in 2024, the Philippines will be the fifth country in the ASEAN to be a member of the agreement, following Brunei, Cambodia, Singapore and Vietnam.
Low awareness
According to Barba, one challenge now is low awareness, as not many local designers are aware that they must protect their designs separately from their businesses' processes and brands, a move which Bureau of Patents Director Ann Edillon, for her part, said could safeguard design assets more strongly from counterfeiting and other forms of intellectual property theft.
"A lot of our local designers do not register their designs due to a lack of awareness of the value of IDs. That is the first major hurdle, which requires increasing public awareness. In the end, we hope to help them understand that there's actual value in the design itself," Edillon said.
