Chaired by Markus Frick, the second session this morning was the WIPO Annual Update. A trilogy of World Intellectual Organization speakers led by Ernesto Rubio (Assistant Director General) reported on recent developments under the Madrid System, the Hague System and elswhere. Among the issues raised was the proposal of the Norwegians, supported by Japan, to scrap the "basic mark" requirement for Madrid System trade mark applications, thus simplifying the application procedure and bringing it into line with the filing of international design applications under the Hague System.

Regarding international designs, 2008 has been a good one for accessions to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement, which include two regional accessions: the European Union and OAPI, the Francophone Africa IP zone. However, design applications from EU member states that did not previously use the Hague System remain relatively few. Indeed, overall the number of Hague design applications continues to fall, following the introduction in Europe of a new regime for design protection in 2003.