Morocco Joins the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement

The Hague System for the international registration of industrial designs continues to expand with a new Contracting Party to the 1999 Geneva Act.

The industrial property title of “Design” makes it possible to protect the appearance of a product. Sometimes neglected by companies, even though they are aware of the protection of inventions by patents or names by trademarks, this protection is nevertheless essential since the aesthetics of your product is often decisive for the consumer and requires financial and human investments.

Acquiring a monopoly on the aesthetics of your product requires reflection in parallel with its conception, since the design title must be filed before the expiry of a period of 12 months following the disclosure of the product to the public.

The protection sought can be national, it can be European with the Community design title protecting the 27 member countries of the European Union, it can also be international thanks to the international design which is a single and centralised application filed with the WIPO and which can now protect up to 94 countries.

Following the recent accession of China, Morocco deposited its instrument of accession to the 1999 Act of the Hague Agreement with WIPO on April 22, becoming the sixty-ninth contracting party.

Its accession will enter into force on July 22, 2022.

From that date, international design applicants will be able to protect their aesthetic innovations in Morocco through a centralized application at preferential costs.

Do not hesitate to contact us,  also assists you in protecting your aesthetic innovations!

− Anaïs GREFFOZ, Intellectual Property Lawyer at Mark & Law