Madrid Protocol
A treaty for extending your mark to other countries.
Lets you file one international application through your home office and designate member countries, rather than filing separately in each. Each designated country still examines under its own law and can refuse. Convenient, but not a global trademark.
Why it matters to your application
The practical route to protecting a brand in several countries without hiring a lawyer in each one. The thing most owners are not told is the dependency: for the first five years the international registration leans on your home application, so if the home one falls, everything built on it can fall with it.
In order
- Secure your US application or registration first. The international filing is based on it.
- Choose the countries deliberately - each designation carries its own fee and its own examination.
- Budget for refusals. Each designated country examines under its own law and can refuse, which usually needs local counsel to answer.
- Keep the home registration healthy for at least five years. Losing it inside that window puts the international registration at risk, a problem known as central attack.
How this plays out
A brand files internationally off a US application, then lets the US application go abandoned after an unanswered office action. The international registration, built on that base, is exposed - and the owner discovers the dependency at the worst possible moment.
About madrid protocol
Does the Madrid Protocol give me a worldwide trademark?
No. There is no such thing. It is one application that extends into the member countries you designate, each of which still examines and can refuse under its own law.
What is central attack?
If the home application or registration the international filing is based on dies within the first five years, the international registration can fall with it. After five years it becomes independent.
Is it cheaper than filing country by country?
Usually, especially across several countries, because you file once and manage one renewal. The saving shrinks if you are only interested in one or two markets.
General information about USPTO procedure, not legal advice about your situation. Always confirm the status and deadlines on your own application in USPTO TSDR.
Others you will meet at this stage
Cease and desist letter
A formal demand that someone stop using your mark.
After registrationRegistration symbol
The R in a circle. Only for registered marks.
After registrationSection 8 declaration
Proof you are still using the mark, or it gets cancelled.
After registrationSection 15 declaration
Optional filing that makes your registration much harder to attack.
After registration