Hague will not not apply to Greenland, say Danes, but Faroes remain in the cold

Summerwear for Greenland, where
the July temperature averages 7 degrees

Across the civilised world, design experts are poring over Hague Notification No. 103, their hands trembling with unfeigned excitement as they scour its text in search of its deeper meaning. Yes, the story can now be told. The government of the Kingdom of Denmark, the land of the Bang & Olufsen, has made  a declaration before the World Intellectual Property Organization. Referring to its historical instrument of ratification of the Geneva Act -- the one which affirmed that the Hague's Geneva Act would not apply to the Faroe Islands or to Greenland -- the Danes have withdrawn the bit of the ratification that says it doesn't apply to Greenland. This declaration takes effect from 11 January 2011.

The reactions of the design communities of Greenland and the Faroe Islands are not yet known.

This author sincerely wishes that, in the 21st century, an era of brief, direct and meaningful communication, the formal, convoluted and pompous language of WIPO ratifications and declarations could be discarded entirely.  If not, perhaps it could be confined to the nether regions of OHIM's Boards of Appeal, from which in probability it will never be entirely eradicated.

Note: a corresponding declaration has been made in relation to the Madrid Protocol.