Design Patents and the Hague Agreement Option: Evaluating the Benefits and Risks of Filing

Mr. Asher is a Coordinator at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations agency managing international IP treaties.

Ms. Durkin is the practice leader of the firm’s Mechanical & Design Practice Group. With more than 35 years of experience obtaining and enforcing IP rights, she is sought out by leading consumer product companies and by colleagues around the world for her deep understanding of utility and design patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Ms. Durkin is the Vice Chair of the USPTO’s Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC), which advises the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property on the policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees of patent operations at the Office. She is also the chair of the Designs Committee for the INTA. Ms. Durkin is past chair of the Industrial Designs Committee of the IP Section of the ABA and of the Industrial Designs Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. In addition, she is past vice chair of the Industrial Designs Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners Association. Ms. Durkin has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at George Mason University Law School in Virginia and has spoken internationally on topics such as the interplay between design patents and trade dress, protection of graphical user interface designs and the user experience, The Hague Agreement, trademark co-branding and licensing, IP audits and mediation. Additionally, she co-hosts the biennial Design Law Conference, which aims to foster debate on cutting-edge design-related topics.

Mr. Klancnik spent about two decades in private practice as a counselor, litigator, and prosecutor before joining the USPTO in 2021. He is part of the team that interfaces with international counterparts and represents the USPTO and the United States in international forums relating to industrial designs, including WIPO’s Hague Working Group, among others. Prior to going into private practice, he clerked for Judge Rader on the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.