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“REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--TREATY DOCUMENT NO. 109-21” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S10885-S10886 on Nov. 13, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
REMOVAL OF INJUNCTION OF SECRECY--TREATY DOCUMENT NO. 109-21
Mr. FRIST. As in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaty transmitted to the Senate on November 13, 2006, by the President of the United States:
Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs, Treaty Document No. 109-21.
I further ask that the treaty be considered as having been read the first time; that it be referred, with accompanying papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and that the President's message be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The message of the President is as follows:
To the Senate of the United States:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith the Geneva At of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (the
``Agreement''), adopted in Geneva on July 2, 1999, and signed by the United States on July 6, 1999. I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, a report of the Department of State with respect to the Agreement.
This Agreement promotes the ability of U.S. design owners to protect their industrial designs by allowing them to obtain multinational design protection through a single deposit procedure. Under the Agreement, U.S. design owners would be able to file for design registration in any number of the Contracting Parties with a single standardized application in English at either the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or at the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Similarly, renewal of a design registration in each Contracting Party may be made by filing a single request along with payment of the appropriate fees at the International Bureau of WIPO. This Agreement should make access to international protection of industrial designs more readily available to U.S. businesses.
In the event that the Senate provides its consent to ratify the Agreement, the United States would not deposit its instrument of ratification until the necessary implementing legal structure has been established domestically.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to this Agreement and give its advice and consent to its ratification, subject to the declarations described in the accompanying report of the Department of State.
George W. Bush. The White House, November 13, 2006.
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