RIP London Act, Floreat Hague

Thanks to Class 99-er Graeme Dinwoodie for pointing out this breaking WIPO story.

Life for applicants using the needlessly complex International Design system is about to get a little easier, with the abolition of the 1934 London Act of the Hague Agreement, the first in the tale of five cities (it was followed by the Hague Act of 1960, the Monaco Act of 1961, the Stockholm Act of 1967 and, finally, something approaching modernity in the form of the Geneva Act of 1999).

Class 99 will miss the terse Gallicism of the 1934 Act (despite the name, the UK never acceeded and it was based on the old French system), featuring sealed or open "deposit" rather than filing, and the famous "enveloppe soleau", a double sealed, perforated envelope to be opened on need.

This is clearly the reason for the departure of Indonesia which we noted here on 1st May 2009 - it is the only Hague member which has only ratified the London Act, and so it will have no place in the post-London Hague system.

Even without the London Act, on filing an International Design it will continue to be important to check which potential designated States share the same version of the Agreement as the country of the filer. For example, Brits can only designate Geneva Act states, except in circumstances too complex for this posting. But every little simplification helps.