WIPO - Simplification of international design registration system

Member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have agreed to simplify the international design registration system. This decision is supposed to reduce the complexity of the system and will focus greater attention on the 1999 Geneva Act. This Act enhances the existing system by making it more compatible with registration systems in countries where protection of industrial designs is contingent on examination to determine the acceptability of an application. The Geneva Act also introduces a modified fee system, the possibility of deferring publication of a design for up to 30 months and the ability to file samples of the design rather than photographs or other graphic reproductions.