Global IP treaties streamline procedural requirements, not change the law
Dennis Crouch, April 12, 2024, "The Design Law Treaty and the Struggle for International Harmonization of Industrial Design Protection," Patently-O, https://patentlyo.com/patent/2024/04/international-harmonization-industrial.html, accessed 6/6/24, mw
In contrast, the proposed DLT is a harmonization treaty that aims to streamline and align the procedural requirements for obtaining industrial design protection at the national level. The DLT would set a maximum set of requirements that contracting parties can impose on design applicants, reducing differences in national and regional design registration procedures.
For utility patent experts, it may make sense to think about the relationship between the Hague and DLT as similar to that between the PCT and PLT in that one set (Hague and PCT) provides a framework for centralized applications and preliminary assessments at an international level, while the other set (DLT and PLT) focuses on harmonizing procedural requirements across jurisdictions at the national stage to streamline the application process nationally.