Global Trademark Registration | Do it in Just 3 Steps

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If you operate globally and wish to protect your brand, you must understand how to do global trademark registration online and protect your brand internationally.

 

The greatest method to guarantee that the time you invested in developing your brand image will not be wasted or imitated by others is to do this. 

 

The Madrid System, which is made up of the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol, regulates the protection of international trademarks.

 

The 122 nations that currently consent to reciprocally protect each other's citizens' trademarks are collectively referred to as the Madrid Union.

 

By following the Madrid System you can safeguard your intellectual property across these nations.

 

Requirements for Global Trademark Registration

The prerequisites for an international trademark application are very similar to those for national filings. In fact, as we will see later, you must first go through one of the national Trademark Offices of a Contracting State to the Madrid System in order to acquire worldwide protection for your trademark. But first, a quick overview of what this system can protect:

  • Logos
  • Names
  • Images
  • Colours
  • Patterns
  • Shapes
  • Packaging for products
  • Sounds
  • Smells

 

It should be emphasised that you must be one of the following to apply for international protection:

 

  • A resident of a Madrid System contracting state
  • A business organisation based in a Contracting State
  • A company or other organisation with a legitimate business or industrial location in one of the contracting states

 

Scope and Duration of IP Protection

Your brand will be safeguarded for ten years by an international trademark. 

 

You can file for renewal following this 10-year window.

 

It fully depends on your filing and where you want to allocate resources for brand protection as to how many countries it will be protected in. 

 

Don't worry if you wish to start small and gradually expand protection; you can always ask to add other nations to the trademark through a Territorial Expansion Application. 

 

The price for this is 300 CHF plus an additional 100 CHF for each additional nation. 

 

This price may also include a variable component. Check out the WIPO Fee Calculator to be certain.

 

Steps in Registering a Trademark

First and foremost, you must submit an application to a national trademark registration office associated with a Contracting State in order to register a trademark globally. Or you can apply with a trademark registration online service provider.

 

You don't apply to WIPO directly (World Intellectual Property Organization).

 

  1. Apply to the appropriate National Trademark Office
  2. Examination of trademark application by the WIPO
  3. Examination of trademark application by the National Trademark Office of each requested country

 

 

Step 1: Apply to the appropriate National Trademark Office

 

Applying to the appropriate National Trademark Office is the initial step in the procedure. 

 

With a fast Google search, you may find out about this rather easily. 

 

A handful of the national offices are listed here, along with links to their websites.

 

  • UK: IPO (Intellectual Property Office)
  • Europe: DPMA (Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt)
  • INPI (Institut National de la PropriétéIndustriallle) in France
  • Spain's Office of Spanish Patents and Marks (OEPM)
  • Europe: UIBM (UfficioItalianoBrevetti e Marchi)

 

You will need to complete Form MM2 in order to apply to this national office.

 

The national office will review the application after filing. 

 

They will subsequently forward your application to the WIPO for additional international review if the file is error-free. Usually, this takes up to two months.

 

Step 2: Examination of trademark application by the WIPO

 

The WIPO will review your application when the country office has given its approval. 

 

This examination is primarily intended to make sure that your application is flawless and that you are a genuine applicant who satisfies the standards. 

 

The application will subsequently be sent to the national offices of each requested nation after being approved and published in the WIPO's International Trademark Gazette.

 

Step 3: Examination of trademark application by the National Trademark Office of each requested country

 

The process for registering an international trademark is substantially the same as applying to register a national trademark in each of the countries you specify. 

 

The appropriate national trademark offices will therefore review your application at this point for any flaws and, more significantly, any potential IP conflicts with trademarks that have already been registered in that nation.

 

Publishing the application in their national gazette or bulletin and giving other trademark owners the opportunity to express their concerns are often two key components of the national procedure. 

 

The national office has one year to send a notification of provisional denial if there are any inconsistencies with pre-registered trademarks; this deadline may occasionally be extended to 18 months or longer.

 

The trademark is awarded and your company's name is now formally protected in that nation if there is no indication of such a preliminary denial.

 

Conclusion

 

Now that you are aware of how to register an international trademark, safeguard your brand, and keep track of your intellectual property, it should be mentioned that the procedure itself can take some time. 

 

Furthermore, errors in your application or notification of provisional refusal sent to the WIPO or another national trademark authority might confuse things even further and cause protracted delays.

 

Countries That Protect International Trademark Registrations

The following countries are parties to the Madrid Protocol. Hence, an International Trademark can be afforded protection in the following countries:

 

  1. African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI)
  2. Albania
  3. Algeria
  4. Antigua and Barbuda
  5. Armenia
  6. Australia
  7. Austria
  8. Azerbaijan
  9. Bahrain
  10. Belarus
  11. Belgium
  12. Bhutan
  13. Bosnia and Herzegovina
  14. Botswana
  15. Bulgaria
  16. Cambodia
  17. China
  18. Colombia
  19. Croatia
  20. Cuba
  21. Cyprus
  22. Czech Republic
  23. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
  24. Denmark
  25. Egypt
  26. Estonia
  27. European Union
  28. Finland
  29. France
  30. Georgia
  31. Germany
  32. Ghana
  33. Greece
  34. Hungary
  35. Iceland
  36. India
  37. Iran
  38. Ireland
  39. Israel
  40. Italy
  41. Japan
  42. Kazakhstan
  43. Kenya
  44. Kyrgyzstan
  45. Latvia
  46. Lesotho
  47. Liberia
  48. Liechtenstein
  49. Lithuania
  50. Luxembourg
  51. Mexico
  52. Monaco
  53. Mongolia
  54. Montenegro
  55. Morocco
  56. Mozambique
  57. Namibia
  58. Netherlands
  59. New Zealand
  60. Norway
  61. Oman
  62. Philippines
  63. Poland
  64. Portugal
  65. Republic of Korea
  66. Republic of Moldova
  67. Romania
  68. Russian Federation
  69. Rwanda
  70. San Marino
  71. Sao Tome and Principe
  72. Serbia
  73. Sierra Leone
  74. Singapore
  75. Slovakia
  76. Slovenia
  77. Spain
  78. Sudan
  79. Swaziland
  80. Sweden
  81. Switzerland
  82. Syrian Arab Republic
  83. Tajikistan
  84. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
  85. Tunisia
  86. Turkey
  87. Turkmenistan
  88. Ukraine
  89. United Kingdom
  90. United States of America
  91. Uzbekistan
  92. VietNam
  93. Zambia
  94. Zimbabwe

 

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