The Madrid system of international registration of marks is governed by two treaties: the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, which dates from 1891, and the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement, which came into operation on April 1, 1996. The system is administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Please follow the links to view the official
GUIDE TO THE INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION OF MARKS UNDER THE MADRID AGREEMENT AND THE MADRID PROTOCOL and a list of the
CONTRACTING PARTIES to the Agreement and the Protocol.
Who May Use the System?
The Madrid system of international registration of marks may be used only by a natural person or a legal entity which has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in, or is domiciled in, or is a national of, a country which is party to the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol, or who has such an establishment in, or is domiciled in, the territory of an intergovernmental organization which is a party to the Protocol, or is a national of a Member State of such an organization.
The Office of the Contracting Party with respect to which a person or entity fulfills one or more of the above conditions is referred to as the "Office of origin." A mark may be the subject of an international registration only if it has already been registered (or, where the international application is governed exclusively by the Protocol, if registration has been applied for) in the Office of origin.
An application for international registration must designate one or more Contracting Parties (not the Contracting Party whose Office is the Office of origin) in which the mark is to be protected. Further Contracting Parties may be designated subsequently. A Contracting Party may be designated only if that Contracting Party and the Contracting Party whose Office is the Office of origin are both party to the same treaty (Agreement or Protocol).
The Madrid system of international registration cannot be used by a person who does not have the necessary connection, through establishment, domicile or nationality, with a country of the Madrid Union. Nor can it be used to protect a trademark in a country which is outside the Madrid Union.
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