The Madrid Agreement

The Madrid Agreement

The Madrid Agreement (1891) enables the international registration of marks (International Bureau, WIPO, Geneva). The trademark owner, after having obtained the national protection of a trademark, has the possibility to obtain protection of the mark covering the Contracting States by simply filing one application with a single Office of any of the Contracting States, in one language, and with one set of fees. It concerns the renewing procedure as well. The international registration offers a number of advantages for both the trademark owner and the national (regional) trademark offices. For the time being, the Agreement has 57 Member States, among others Hungary. It is good to know that United States of America, United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea are not member of the Agreement, from these states the mark has to be protected by directly filing the so-called national applications with the national intellectual property offices of each states.

International trademark information available on the  Madrid Monitor.