If you operate worldwide and wish to protect your brand, it is essential to register an international trademark. It is the most excellent approach to ensure you don’t waste or copy your time in building your brand image. The Madrid System, which comprises the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol, governs the protection of international trademarks.
You may protect your IP in the 122 nations that are now agreeing to each other’s trademarks, known as the Madrid Union, by following the Madrid System.
International Mark Registration Requirements
The international trademark requirements are much the same as national registrations. You must, in reality, first pass through one of the national marking offices of the contracting state in the Madrid system to get worldwide protection for your trademark, as we shall see later. First of all, a short repetition of what this system can protect:
- Logos
- Names
- Images
- Colors
- Patterns
- Shapes
- Product packaging
- Sounds
It should be emphasized, however, that you must also be:
- to apply for international protection:
- A citizen of a Madrid system contracting country
- A legal entity living in a contracting country
- legal entity in a contracting country having a real and operational business or industry establishment
How do you submit an international mark application?
First, you have to apply for a domestic trademark office of a contracting state to register for a mark globally. Therefore, you are not immediately applicable to WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization).
Registration steps for trademarks:
- Request the national trademark office concerned:The initial stage in this process is applying for you at the proper National Marking Office. This is easy to locate by searching Google quickly. Below is a list of some of the national offices with internet connections.
- WIPO review of the application for trademarks:The WIPO will next take its turn examining your application once the country office authorizes it. The primary objective of this inspection is to confirm that the application has no faults and that you are a legal candidate who complies with the criteria. It will be published in the International Marks Gazette of the WIPO upon approval; then, the application will be transmitted to the national offices of each country requested.
- Examination by the National Marks Office of each country being requested of the mark application:The international registration process for trademarks essentially has the same effect as if you were to apply in all of the countries required for registration of a national trademark. Thus, your application for any defects and, critically, any possible IP conflicts with the existing marks in the country will be examined by the relevant national trademark authorities in this phase.
The publication of the application in their national magazine or bulletin is usually an essential component of the national procedure. It allows other trademark holders to express their concerns over some time. The trademark is awarded where such preliminary rejection has not been notified, and your brand in that nation is formally protected.
