§ 381. Definitions

• (a) When used in this part, unless the context otherwise indicates—
  • (1) the term “treaty” means the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs adopted at Geneva on July 2, 1999 ;
  • (2) the term “regulations”—
    • (A) when capitalized, means the Common Regulations under the treaty; and
    • (B) when not capitalized, means the regulations established by the Director under this title;
  • (3) the terms “designation”, “designating”, and “designate” refer to a request that an international registration have effect in a Contracting Party to the treaty;
  • (4) the term “International Bureau” means the international intergovernmental organization that is recognized as the coordinating body under the treaty and the Regulations;
  • (5) the term “effective registration date” means the date of international registration determined by the International Bureau under the treaty;
  • (6) the term “international design application” means an application for international registration; and
  • (7) the term “international registration” means the international registration of an industrial design filed under the treaty.
• (b) Terms and expressions not defined in this part are to be taken in the sense indicated by the treaty and the Regulations.

§ 382. Filing international design applications

• (a) Any person who is a national of the United States, or has a domicile, a habitual residence, or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the United States, may file an international design application by submitting to the Patent and Trademark Office an application in such form, together with such fees, as may be prescribed by the Director.
• (b) The Patent and Trademark Office shall perform all acts connected with the discharge of its duties under the treaty, including the collection of international fees and transmittal thereof to the International Bureau. Subject to chapter 17, international design applications shall be forwarded by the Patent and Trademark Office to the International Bureau, upon payment of a transmittal fee.
• (c) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the provisions of chapter 16 shall apply.
• (d) An international design application on an industrial design made in this country shall be considered to constitute the filing of an application in a foreign country within the meaning of chapter 17 if the international design application is filed—
  • (1) in a country other than the United States;
  • (2) at the International Bureau; or
  • (3) with an intergovernmental organization.

§ 383. International design application

In addition to any requirements pursuant to chapter 16, the international design application shall contain—

• (1) a request for international registration under the treaty;
• (2) an indication of the designated Contracting Parties;
• (3) data concerning the applicant as prescribed in the treaty and the Regulations;
• (4) copies of a reproduction or, at the choice of the applicant, of several different reproductions of the industrial design that is the subject of the international design application, presented in the number and manner prescribed in the treaty and the Regulations;
• (5) an indication of the product or products that constitute the industrial design or in relation to which the industrial design is to be used, as prescribed in the treaty and the Regulations;
• (6) the fees prescribed in the treaty and the Regulations; and
• (7) any other particulars prescribed in the Regulations.

§ 384. Filing date

• (a) Subject to subsection (b), the filing date of an international design application in the United States shall be the effective registration date. Notwithstanding the provisions of this part, any international design application designating the United States that otherwise meets the requirements of chapter 16 may be treated as a design application under chapter 16.
• (b) An applicant may request review by the Director of the filing date of the international design application in the United States. The Director may determine that the filing date of the international design application in the United States is a date other than the effective registration date. The Director may establish procedures, including the payment of a surcharge, to review the filing date under this section. Such review may result in a determination that the application has a filing date in the United States other than the effective registration date.

§ 385. Effect of international design application

An international design application designating the United States shall have the effect, for all purposes, from its filing date determined in accordance with section 384, of an application for patent filed in the Patent and Trademark Office pursuant to chapter 16.

§ 386. Right of priority

• (a) In accordance with the conditions and requirements of subsections (a) through (d) of section 119 and section 172, a national application shall be entitled to the right of priority based on a prior international design application that designated at least 1 country other than the United States.
• (b) In accordance with the conditions and requirements of subsections (a) through (d) of section 119 and section 172 and the treaty and the Regulations, an international design application designating the United States shall be entitled to the right of priority based on a prior foreign application, a prior international application as defined in section 351(c) designating at least 1 country other than the United States, or a prior international design application designating at least 1 country other than the United States.
• (c) In accordance with the conditions and requirements of section 120, an international design application designating the United States shall be entitled to the benefit of the filing date of a prior national application, a prior international application as defined in section 351(c) designating the United States, or a prior international design application designating the United States, and a national application shall be entitled to the benefit of the filing date of a prior international design application designating the United States. If any claim for the benefit of an earlier filing date is based on a prior international application as defined in section 351(c) which designated but did not originate in the United States or a prior international design application which designated but did not originate in the United States, the Director may require the filing in the Patent and Trademark Office of a certified copy of such application together with a translation thereof into the English language, if it was filed in another language.

§ 387. Relief from prescribed time limits

An applicant’s failure to act within prescribed time limits in connection with requirements pertaining to an international design application may be excused as to the United States upon a showing satisfactory to the Director of unintentional delay and under such conditions, including a requirement for payment of the fee specified in section 41(a)(7), as may be prescribed by the Director.

§ 388. Withdrawn or abandoned international design application

• (a) and
• (b) of section 386, or under subsection
• (a) or
• (b) of section 365, if it designated a country other than the United States.

§ 389. Examination of international design application

• (a) The Director shall cause an examination to be made pursuant to this title of an international design application designating the United States.
• (b) All questions of substance and, unless otherwise required by the treaty and Regulations, procedures regarding an international design application designating the United States shall be determined as in the case of applications filed under chapter 16.
• (c) The Director may prescribe fees for filing international design applications, for designating the United States, and for any other processing, services, or materials relating to international design applications, and may provide for later payment of such fees, including surcharges for later submission of fees.
• (d) The Director may issue a patent based on an international design application designating the United States, in accordance with the provisions of this title. Such patent shall have the force and effect of a patent issued on an application filed under chapter 16.

§ 390. Publication of international design application

The publication under the treaty of an international design application designating the United States shall be deemed a publication under section 122(b).