WIPO marks the 100th anniversary of the Hague system
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) marked the 100th anniversary of the Hague System of International Registration of Industrial Designs with a symposium held in the Dutch city of The Hague, where an agreement establishing this system was signed in 1925.
The symposium was organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands and the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) and brought together government officials, industry leaders and intellectual property experts, who reflected on a century of international cooperation in design protection and discussed the future of the Hague System.
"As we celebrate 100 years of the Hague system that has given millions of designers IP protection, we need to ensure that we continue supporting those who bring beauty to the things that we use. In particular, design rights are not as well known as other IP rights, so we will work hard with our partners to raise awareness and usage of this important but undervalued aspect of IP protection," it was stated, among other things, on that occassion by WIPO Director-General Daren Tang.
More than 2 million design registrations have already been filed through the Hague system, including 27,161 in 2024 alone, an increase of almost 7% compared to the previous year, WIPO said, which also published a commemorative publication: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo-pub-1088-en-a-century-of-design-registrations-1925-2025.pdf
According to WIPO’s World Intangible Investment Highlights 2025, investment in design across the United States, the United Kingdom and 22 European Union economies amounted to over US$ 685 billion in 2024, making up close to 10% of total investment in intangible assets that year. In some EU economies, such as France and Germany, investment in design represents an even larger share, reaching up to 17% of total intangible investment.
The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs was signed in The Hague on November 6, 1925, establishing the Hague System, also known as the international design system. From its initial 11 signatories, the system now comprises 82 members covering 99 countries, simplifying the international protection of industrial designs and fostering global innovation.