We can help your company register trademarks in over 100 countries through the Madrid Protocol / Madrid System. The complete list of Madrid Protocol countries can be found at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website. However, the Madrid Protocol may not be optimal in many situations. Some of these scenarios are discussed briefly below.
If your company is not in a Madrid Protocol country, then the company will not be able to use the Madrid Protocol to register trademarks internationally. Accordingly, companies in non Madrid Protocol countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Argentina, and Brazil will typically register directly at each foreign trademark office. Conversely, companies wishing to expand into non Madrid Protocol countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Argentina, and Brazil will need to register trademarks at the appropriate national trademark office.
If your company is located in a Madrid Protocol country with relatively strict national trademark laws, then it may make sense to register directly at each foreign trademark office. For example, this scenario often applies to US companies looking to expand abroad. While the US is a Madrid Protocol country, US trademark laws tend to be much more restrictive than many foreign trademark laws. So when a company applies for a Madrid Protocol trademark through the USPTO, the resultant foreign trademarks will generally be narrower in scope than if the foreign trademarks were registered separately at each foreign trademark office.
Even if the Madrid Protocol application is suitable for your situation, it may still be strategically beneficial to register some of the foreign trademarks directly in certain countries. As discussed above, the USPTO is generally more strict than other trademark offices. So it can be strategically prudent to apply for the US trademark separately. In addition, companies expanding into Europe may also wish to apply for a European Union (EU) trademark rather than applying to EU countries through the Madrid Protocol because the EU trademark offers unitary trademark rights.
Minder Group provides trademark application services for the following commercial centers:
- Madrid Protocol international trademark
- United States (US) trademark
- European Union (EU) trademark (EUTM, formerly CTM), covering Germany, France, Spain, Italy, etc.
- United Kingdom (UK) trademark, see Brexit trademark considerations
- China trademark
- Taiwan trademark
- Hong Kong trademark
- Singapore trademark
- Australia trademark
- New Zealand trademark
- Canada trademark
- Mexico trademark
- Brazil trademark
- Trademarks for many other countries
