HA241 Fee Structure under the Hague Agreement.docVIP

WIPO E H/A/24/1 ORIGINAL: English DATE: July 23, 2007 WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION GENEVA SPECIAL UNION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DEPOSIT OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS(HAGUE UNION) ASSEMBLY Twenty-Fourth (16th Ordinary) Session Geneva, September 24 to October 3, 2007 fee structure under the hague agreement Document prepared by the International Bureau I. INTRODUCTION An Informal Consultative Meeting on Certain Issues Relating to Fees Payable Under the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (hereinafter referred to as “the Consultative Meeting”) was convened by the Director General and held in Geneva on May?4,?2007. The following Member States of the Hague Union were represented at the Consultative Meeting: Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The following other States were represented as observers: China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iran?(Islamic?Republic?of), Japan, Lesotho, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand and the United States of America. Two non-governmental organizations, namely the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP) and the Centre for International Industrial Property Studies (CEIPI) were also represented. The list of participants is attached in Annex?III.  The discussions at the Consultative Meeting were based on a document prepared by the International Bureau and entitled “Proposals for Discussion”. The proposals in question concerned: the simplification of the publication fee structure; the introduction of different levels of the standard designation fee concerning the international application; the reduction of fees intended for the International Bureau for applicants from Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The participants to the Consultative Meeting expressed broad support for the proposals prepared by the Intern