Welcome news - the first of the big Asian nations has joined the Hague Agreement (Geneva Act).  Nationals or residents of other Geneva Act territories can, as of 1st July, now designate South Korea (aka the Republic of Korea), and Samsung, LG et al will no longer need European representatives to secure EU protection.  At 210 Swiss Francs, the designation fee for Korea is expensive compared to the EU (67 Swiss Francs) and many other countries, so it may be somewhat one way traffic - we shall see.

Of course, North Korea (aka the Democratic Republic of Korea - no comment) has been a Hague member since 1992 and is available for a much more reasonable 90 Swiss Francs.  However, since it is a member only of the 1960 and 1967 Acts, Northerners cannot designate the South, and vice versa.  To cover both, you need to be a national or resident of a member of both Acts, which will not be possible for Japan, the US, or Europe as a whole (though individual EU nations such as France and Germany manage the trick).  Make sure you get the right one!

Next stop, the US?