Madrid System - Marking A Million

Grüne Erde

In late May, the international trademark system passed a milestone in its 118-year history with the registration of the millionth mark by Austrian eco- company Grüne Erde - pointing to the enduring relevance and value of trademarks to businesses in all fields of commerce.

For Grüne Erde the Madrid System was "an easy and fast way" to reach all those countries in which it sought to register its trademark, "in one step... and at a relatively low cost." Users of the Madrid System for the international registration of trademarks, such as Grüne Erde, can protect a mark in a large number of countries by obtaining an international registration having effect in each jurisdiction of the System's 84 contracting parties.

The millionth international trademark registration consists of the words "Grüne Erde" in green letters separated by an image of a tree and covers goods in a total of 26 classes.

Grüne Erde, established in 1983, was inspired, according to its owner and Managing Director Reinhard Kepplinger, by a desire to prove "it is possible to create an ecologically-aware company that is highly successful within the marketplace." In the 1980s, the "green thinking" that is progressively gaining currency within today's business circles, was quite unusual. Mr. Kepplinger says, "We injected ecological thinking into our business operations long before other enterprises. At the beginning, establishing Grüne Erde seemed a 'mad' idea." The company's foresight, however, is clearly paying off. In 2008, Grüne Erde chalked up sales worth €33 million. It employs over 300 people - who enjoy forward-looking working arrangements and conditions - and prides itself on maintaining the highest ecological standards.

The company offers over 5,000 organic products, including home furnishings, organic foods and natural cosmetics. Seventy percent of all products sold are produced by Grüne Erde's wood furniture operation in southern Austria and its textile plant in upper Austria, where work is underway to build a facility to produce natural cosmetics, the fastest growing branch of the company's business. The remaining 30 percent of its products are sourced from within the European Union. A c c o r d i n g t o M r. Kepplinger, "We always take great care to ensure that our products have short transport routes because we don't want to waste energy and harm the environment." He...