What You Need to Know About the Riyadh Design Law Treaty

On March 13, 2026, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) initiated a request for public comment on whether the United States should become a party to the Riyadh Design Law Treaty (RDLT). The USPTO asks interested parties, stakeholders, and commentators to address whether the treaty aligns with U.S. design patent law, whether implementing legislation or regulatory changes would be required, and what practical impacts accession may have on U.S. applicants, designers, and competitors. 

This request follows an earlier request for comments in 2024 based on an earlier draft of the text with material differences.

What do you need to know beforehand?

The RDLT is the newest international intellectual property treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It was adopted by consensus on November 22, 2024, at a diplomatic conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, following nearly two decades of negotiations within WIPO’s Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications. The treaty is intended to harmonize and simplify procedural and formal requirements for obtaining and maintaining protection for industrial designs, without regulating substantive design law.

The RDLT is best understood as the design-law analogue to the Patent Law Treaty and the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks. Its core objective is to reduce procedural complexity, increase predictability, and lower administrative burdens for designers seeking protection across multiple jurisdictions. The treaty establishes a closed list of permissible application requirements, uniform rules for securing a filing date, mandatory grace periods, and mechanisms to preserve rights in the event of missed deadlines or unintentional lapses.

On March 13, 2026, Albania became the first country to ratify and implement the Riyadh Design Law Treaty by depositing its instrument of ratification with WIPO’s Director General. Albania’s ratification represents the first concrete step toward bringing the treaty into force and marks a significant milestone for the international design protection framework. The treaty will enter into force three months after at least 15 eligible parties ratify or accede to it.

Why this matters?

If the United States were to join the RDLT, several provisions could affect U.S. design applicants seeking protection abroad—and foreign applicants filing in the U.S.:

• Closed List of Filing Requirements: Contracting parties may only require elements expressly listed in the treaty when accepting a design application, limiting unexpected or country specific formalities.
• Filing Date Standards: Clear and uniform requirements for securing a filing date, reducing the risk of loss of priority due to formal defects.
• 12 Month Grace Period: Applicants may disclose a design up to one year before filing without destroying novelty, aligning with U.S. design patent practice.
• Relief for Missed Deadlines: Mandatory mechanisms to restore rights where deadlines are unintentionally missed, including reinstatement and continued processing.
• Flexibility on Local Representation: Limits on when an applicant can be required to appoint local counsel.

For U.S. companies and designers that rely on international design protection, the RDLT has the potential to streamline foreign filings, reduce formalistic traps, and improve consistency across jurisdictions. At the same time, stakeholders may wish to consider whether features such as expanded grace periods or deferred publication could affect competitive intelligence, enforcement strategies, or design-around planning.