Administrative Instructions for the Application of the Hague Agreement ^[*]

For the purposes of these Administrative Instructions:

An expression which is used in these Administrative Instructions and is referred to in Rule 1 has the same meaning as in the Regulations.

Communications addressed to the International Bureau shall be effected in writing by typewriter or other machine and shall be signed.

If several documents are mailed in one envelope, they should be accompanied by a list identifying each of them.

Any communication, other than an international application containing a reproduction to be published in color, may be addressed to the International Bureau by telefacsimile, provided that where the communication must be presented on an official form, the official form is used for the purposes of the telefacsimile communication.

An international application addressed to the International Bureau by telefacsimile shall not have effect unless, prior to the expiration of 20 days counted from the date of receipt of such communication, the original of the international application bearing the prescribed signature along with the reproductions and/or specimens concerned, have been received by the International Bureau. When so confirmed, the said international application shall have effect as of the date on which it was received by telefacsimile by the International Bureau.

Where a communication is transmitted to the International Bureau by telefacsimile, the Bureau shall promptly and by telefacsimile inform the sender of the receipt of that communication, and where such telefacsimile communication received by the International Bureau is incomplete or illegible, of that fact also, provided that the sender can be identified and can be reached by telefacsimile.

Where a communication is transmitted to the International Bureau by telefacsimile and, because of the time difference between the place from where the communication is transmitted and Geneva, the date on which the transmittal started is different from the date of receipt by the International Bureau of the complete communication, the earlier of the two dates shall be considered as the date of receipt by the International Bureau.

The International Bureau shall promptly and by electronic transmission inform the originator of an electronic transmission of the receipt of that transmission and, where the electronic transmission received is incomplete or otherwise unusable, also of that fact, provided that the originator can be identified and can be reached. Such an acknowledgement shall contain the date of receipt in the case of an international application.

Where a communication is transmitted to the International Bureau by electronic means and, because of the time difference between the place from where the communication is sent and Geneva, the date on which the sending started is different from the date of receipt by the International Bureau of the complete communication, the earlier of the two dates shall be considered as the date of receipt by the International Bureau.

For the purpose of the communication by the International Bureau to Offices of Contracting Parties of the date on which each issue of the Bulletin is published, as provided for in Rule 26(3), each such Office shall indicate to the International Bureau the email address to which the said communication shall be sent.

In the case of a natural person, the name to be indicated is the family or principal name and the given or secondary name(s) of the natural person.

In the case of a legal entity, the name to be indicated is the full official designation of the legal entity.

In the case of a name in characters other than Latin characters, the indication of that name shall consist of a transliteration into Latin characters which shall follow the phonetics of the language of the international application. In the case of a legal entity whose name is in characters other than Latin characters, the said transliteration may be replaced by a translation into the language of the international application.

An address shall be given in such a way as to satisfy the customary requirements for prompt postal delivery and shall consist, at least, of all the relevant administrative units up to, and including, the house number, if any. In addition, telephone and telefacsimile numbers, an e-mail address as well as a different address for correspondence, may be indicated.

One and the same international application may comprise both photographs and other graphic representations, in black and white or in color.

Each reproduction accompanying an international application shall be submitted in a single copy.

The photographs or other graphic representations accompanying an international application filed on paper shall be either pasted or printed directly onto a separate sheet of A4 paper which is white and opaque. The separate sheet of paper shall be used upright and shall not contain more than 25 reproductions.

The reproductions accompanying an international application must be arranged in the orientation in which the applicant wishes them to be published. Where that application is filed on paper, a margin of at least 5 millimeters should be left around the representation of each industrial design.

Each reproduction must fall within a right-angled quadrilateral containing no other reproduction or part of another reproduction and no numbering. The photographs or other graphic representations shall not be folded, stapled or marked in any way.

The photographs and other graphic representations shall represent the industrial design alone, or the product in relation to which the industrial design is to be used, to the exclusion of any other object, accessory, person or animal.

The dimensions of the representation of each industrial design appearing in a photograph or other graphic representation may not exceed 16 x 16 centimeters, and one of those dimensions must be at least 3 centimeters. With respect to the filing of international applications by electronic means, the International Bureau may establish a data format, the particulars of which shall be published in the Bulletin, to ensure compliance with these maximum and minimum dimensions.

The following shall not be accepted:

in the description referred to in Rule 7(5)(a) and/or

by means of dotted or broken lines.

The photographs supplied must be of professional standard and have all the edges cut at right angles. The industrial design must be shown against a neutral plain background. Photographs retouched with ink or correcting fluid shall not be allowed.

Graphic representations must be of professional standard produced with drawing instruments or by electronic means and, where the application is filed on paper, must further be produced on good quality white, opaque paper, all of whose edges are cut at right angles. The industrial design represented may comprise shading and hatching to provide relief. Graphic representations executed by electronic means may be shown against a background, provided that it is neutral and plain and has only edges cut at right angles.

The numbering stipulated for multiple international applications shall appear in the margin of each photograph or other graphic representation. When the same industrial design is represented from different angles, the numbering shall consist of two separate figures separated by a dot (e.g., 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc. for the first design, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc. for the second design, and so on).

The reproductions shall be submitted in ascending numerical order.

A specimen in two dimensions which accompanies an international application shall not exceed 26.2 centimeters x 17 centimeters in size (unfolded), 50 grams in weight or 3 millimeters in thickness. Such specimens shall be pasted on sheets of A4 paper and numbered in accordance with Section 405(b). The same number shall be assigned to each reproduction corresponding to these specimens when submitted to the International Bureau.

None of the dimensions of a package containing specimens shall exceed 30 centimeters and the weight of such package and its packing shall not exceed 4 kilograms.

Perishable products or products which may be dangerous to store shall not be accepted.

the Office making the notification;

the number of the international registration concerned;

the numbers of the industrial designs which have been the subject of the division with the Office concerned, and

the resulting national or regional application numbers or registration numbers.

by debit to a current account with the International Bureau;

by payment into the Swiss postal account or to any of the specified bank accounts of the International Bureau;

by credit card, where, in the context of an electronic communication envisaged in Section 204(a), an electronic interface for online payment has been made available by the International Bureau.