In short, the fee changes will make it around 10-15% cheaper to obtain protection in South Korea and Israel, but around 15-20% more expensive to obtain protection in Canada.

The fee changes relating to South Korea and Israel will apply with effect from 01 December 2023, whereas the fee increase for Canada will take effect from 01 January 2024.

As background, the official fees payable for a Hague design registration are based on a number of factors that include:

1. a basic application fee (397 CHF);
2. a registration fee (19 CHF), which is payable for each design in excess of one which is included in the Hague design registration;
3. a reproduction fee (17 CHF), which is payable for each view that is present in the Hague design registration;
4. an excess description fee (2 CHF), which is payable for each word in excess of 100 from any description which is included in the Hague design registration; and
5. a designation fee(s), whose amount varies based on which territory(ies) is chosen to be included in the Hague design registration. If multiple designs are included in the Hague design registration, the designation fee for each territory scales by the number of designs that are present in the Hague design registration.

For context, therefore, the updated designation fees for Israel, South Korea and Canada, are listed below, next to the current (lower) designation fees for the UK, EU, Switzerland and Norway.

Note 1: Israel

A reduced designation fee for Israel may be paid where the Hague design registration has no priority claim and the applicant is one of a natural person, a small entity whose yearly revenue fulfils certain criteria, or a higher education institution recognized by Israeli law.

Note 2: South Korea

A reduced designation fee for South Korea is paid where the design(s) from the Hague design registration fall under certain subject matter areas, that is, any designs falling under Locarno classifications 1 (foodstuffs); 2 (clothing); 3 (travel goods/personal belongings); 5 (textiles); 9 (packaging/containers); 11 (articles of adornment); or 19 (stationery and office equipment, artists' and teaching materials). This is because the South Korean design registry does not perform prior art searching for any designs that are pursued in these particular Locarno classifications, hence making it cheaper to assess.

The more expensive designation fees for Israel, South Korea and Canada, in comparison to the other European territories listed above, stem from the fact that these initial territories will subject each design from the Hague design registration to a prior art search (except for certain subject matter designs in South Korea, as noted above), hence making the examination process more involved in these territories.

Also note that the types of allowable subject matter which can be pursued in a Hague design registration are, in some respects, more limited in Israel, South Korea and Canada, in comparison to the European territories listed above. For example, particular care must be taken when contemplating subject matter ordinarily relating to Locarno classification 32, such as designs relating to logos or surface ornamentation. In these instances, modification may be required to these designs in terms of how they are shown/covered in the Hague design registration, to make their subject matter more validly pursuable in Israel, South Korea or Canada.

In all though, the above reduction in fees for designating either Israel or South Korea in a Hague design registration will certainly increase the attractiveness of pursuing design registration protection in these territories, potentially alongside the European territories listed above.

Further information

• Hague system fee calculator, WIPO: dycip.com/wipo-fee-calculator
• Hague Information Notice 9/2023 (Canada) (PDF): dycip.com/wipo-hague-9-2023
• Hague Information Notice 10/2023 (Israel) (PDF): dycip.com/wipo-hague-10-2023
• Hague Information Notice 11/2023 (South Korea) (PDF): dycip.com/wipo-hague-11-2023