From 14 October, Lao designers and businesses will be able to protect the look of their products in multiple countries through a single application submitted to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), instead of filing separate applications in every country where they want protection.
The change works both ways. Foreign companies using WIPO’s Hague System will also be able to include Laos in the same application, making it easier to protect their product designs when doing business in the country.
Laos formally joined the system on 14 July by signing the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement. Once it takes effect in October, Laos will become the 79th member of the treaty, extending the Hague System’s reach to 102 countries.
What Does This Actually Protect?
The Hague System protects industrial designs; what a product looks like.
That could be the shape of a bottle, the pattern on a textile, the design of a chair, the packaging of a product, or even the appearance of a phone case.
Until now, a Lao company that wanted to protect the design of one product in several countries usually had to submit separate applications under different legal systems and often in different languages.
The Hague System simplifies that process. Businesses can file one application through WIPO, pay one set of fees, and request protection in multiple countries at the same time. A single application can even cover up to 100 designs within the same product category.
For Lao businesses, especially those exporting handicrafts, furniture, textiles, consumer goods, and other design-based products, the new system could reduce both costs and paperwork when protecting their designs overseas.
It could also make Laos more attractive to foreign investors and manufacturers by giving them a simpler way to secure design rights when entering the Lao market.
Part of Wider Intellectual Property Reforms
Joining the Hague System is only one part of Laos’ broader effort to modernize its intellectual property laws.
In late 2025, the government introduced a new Patent and Petty Patent Decision that updated several procedures without overhauling the entire patent system.
One of the biggest changes was that foreign applicants without a registered address in Laos must work through authorized local intellectual property agents when filing patent applications. The rules also brought the patent system into the digital age by recognising inventions that have already been disclosed in both printed publications and online sources when deciding whether an invention is genuinely new.
The reforms also allows anyone to ask the Department of Intellectual Property to carry out a patent search to check whether an invention has already been registered.
Laos has steadily expanded its participation in international intellectual property agreements over the past three decades. It joined WIPO in 1995, became a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty in 2006, joined the Madrid System for international trademark registration in 2015, and acceded to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on geographical indications in 2020.
By joining the Hague System, Laos has added another international tool that makes it easier for businesses to protect their ideas and designs while strengthening the country’s legal framework for trade, investment, and innovation.
