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Starting on May 13, 2015, the United States began participating in the Hague Agreement on industrial designs. The Hague Agreement provides a streamlined process for filing design applications in multiple countries through a single application. Many countries have participated in the Hague Agreement for a long time, but the U.S. and Japan are finally joining in. U.S. applicants can now file international design applications directly with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This process can save both time and money for anyone interested in filing a design application in multiple countries. In addition, the patent term is now extended to 15 years from the date of issuance instead of the traditional 14-year design patent term. For valuable designs, this extra year can be a huge boost.
