The USPTO welcomed the Partner offices for the 2025 Midterm Meeting in La Jolla, California, on 14-15 and 17 May 2025. In addition to taking stock of the progress of joint projects, the Partners had extensive discussions on two new project proposals related to the Hague system. WIPO presented on the latest evolution of the Hague system and the Global ID project. WIPO also gave an overview of the working group discussions to be sent to plenary in 2026, including reflections on multiple class applications and new image formats.
In addition to discussing ID5 projects, the Partners held their annual New Technologies Exchange and discussed the latest developments in IT tools used for design examination and recent legislative changes. Most offices reported on their efforts to perfect the accuracy of prior art search capabilities with the use of AI (CNIPA, JPO, KIPO), provide more user-friendly application interfaces (USPTO) and, develop automatization and search tools (EUIPO). Legislative changes were highlighted by EUIPO with the entry into force of Phase 1 of the EU design reform, which updated definitions, terminology, and fees. KIPO informed the Partners of planned revisions to the partial examination system.
Representatives of the five jurisdictions gathered at the ID5 User Session, where Users debated new types of designs. Chinese users brought interesting examples of designs from the gaming industry. EU users reported on the EU design reform, which now explicitly protects virtual designs without the need to show physical form. Japanese users stressed the benefits of having a system not limiting the number of views. Korean users warned of the dangers of losing novelty by filing for trademark protection prior to design protection, and the complexities of a recent filing of a human face for avatars. US users voiced concerns over filing requirements of designs being fixed on a physical form.
