Trademarks: Bumper Year for Madrid System

After years of only modest growth, WIPO's international trademark registration system, the Madrid System, shifted gear in 2004 to record a 23.5 percent increase in trademark applications. The up-turn appears set to continue as the snowball effect of significant new country accessions gathers momentum.

Why the surge? Success is now breeding success. With the newest members taking the total number of contracting states to 77, the Madrid System is becoming an increasingly attractive option for companies seeking trademark registration in multiple countries. This is all the more so following three major advances within the past 18 months:

The accession of the United States of America (U.S.) to the Madrid Protocol in November 2003 has brought a big influx of new users. These include not only U.S.-based companies able to use the system for the first time, but also users from the rest of the world who can now take advantage of the Madrid system to seek trademark protection in the U.S. market. Within 12 months of joining, the U.S. had filed over 1,700 international applications, making it already the sixth biggest user in 2004.

The introduction of Spanish as the third filing language under the Madrid Protocol in April 2004 has made the system more accessible to a much broader range of users. It should, moreover, smooth the path for what WIPO hopes will be a succession of new members from the currently under-represented Latin American region.

The accession of the 25-country European Community bloc in October 2004, together with the link to the Community Trademark (CTM), increased use and gave added flexibility to users of both the Madrid and the CTM systems.

Faster, simpler, cheaper

The reputation of the Madrid system is spreading as a cost-effective, flexible and administratively efficient alternative to multiple national applications. A single international Madrid application has the same legal effect as a national application in as many of the 77 contracting states as the applicant designates. No need to pay local agents to file applications in each country. No translation of the paperwork into several languages. A fixed (12 or 18 month) deadline for refusals. Time and cost savings begin from the outset. A typical applicant, designating 12 countries for registration, can expect to...