The half-day event included presentations by Gregoire Bisson of the WIPO International Bureau and Oliver Nilgen of Meissner Bolte.
"The main focus was on designating Korea, Japan and the United States under the Hague System, and specific issues related to these countries, with examples of what should or should not be done," said Oliver.
The three countries have all recently joined the Hague System and all have an examination system for design rights. That means that applicants are now beginning to receive objections and refusals from them. Gregoire shared data showing 16% of refusals in Japan, 18% in the US and 35% in Korea.
"There is no best practice yet. We’re still learning from objections and refusals," said Oliver. "But it’s already clear that applicants need to think more carefully about the representation of designs, and what to include as drawings and descriptions when filing."
"Unlike trade marks, you only have one shot," he added.
The event attracted about 30 participants, mainly from Germany but one from as far away as Argentina. MARQUES is planning to host similar events, again in association with WIPO, in other European cities later this year.
"The Hague System is a very good system – everything is online and very easy. We just need a bit more guidance, convergence and information exchange to make it even better," said Oliver.
There will also be a workshop on the Hague System at the MARQUES Annual Conference in Prague in September this year: see the MARQUES events page for the latest information.
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