Taking a trademark international with the Madrid Protocol
If you're planning to expand your business abroad, you may be looking into an international trademark. The Madrid Protocol, which is made up of two treaties, is one route for registering a trademark in several countries. You file once, in one place, and then extend that application to the other countries you choose. Management stays simple: a single local office, a single language, and one payment in one currency. In practice, the Madrid System takes the application filed in your home country and carries it over to the other member countries.
Each country still decides for itself
Once extended, your request becomes a separate application in every country. Each national trademark office examines it under its own rules and procedures. If an office raises objections, they have to be answered by a local lawyer holding a Power of Attorney, not by the lawyer from your home country.
Which route should you choose?
Applications filed through WIPO tend to cost more for most users, so we generally recommend registering in each country separately. That said, if you intend to file in many countries at the same time, the Madrid System may be the better fit.
About the Madrid International Trademark System
The Madrid System streamlines trademark registration. A single application in a single language turns into multiple applications, handled in various languages by different trademark offices, and together they cover nearly 80% of global trade. The system operates across 114 regions in 98 countries, and its members include the European Union (EU) and the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI).