Over the past two decades, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has been working on a Design Law Treaty focused on aligning examination and procedural guidelines associated with what have historically been referred to as “industrial designs.” One main goal of the Design Law Treaty is to help designers in domestic and foreign jurisdictions obtain design protection faster, easier, and cheaper. In theory, the Design Law Treaty would help to streamline the registration formalities in jurisdictions that are signatories to the treaty and reduce the amount of “red tape” that comes with obtaining design protection across different jurisdictions.

The most recent meeting related to the Design Law Treaty took place in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2023, and Justin DeAngelis, a co-contributor to this blog and a partner at Quarles & Brady, represented the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) at the event. It was concluded at the Geneva conference that a Diplomatic Conference to Conclude and Adopt a Design Law Treaty would take place on November 11-22, 2024, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

In advance of the Riyadh conference this upcoming fall, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) is requesting comments and input from the public on the Design Law Treaty by June 25, 2024. If ratified by the United States, the Design Law Treaty may impact the current USPTO rules for examination of industrial designs. Therefore, practitioners and designers alike are asked to submit user comments regarding the proposed Design Law Treaty.  Please use the link here (and below) to access the special WIPO website for the Diplomatic Conference to Conclude and Adopt a Design Law Treaty, where the draft articles and regulations of the Design Law Treaty can be accessed. Further, please see here (and below) for a notice from the USPTO regarding its request for comments on the Design Law Treaty.

WIPO Website for the Diplomatic Conference to Conclude and Adopt a Design Law Treaty.

UPSTO Notice Regarding Design Law Treaty.