The World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) said March 12 that it received a record number of applications for international protection of trademarks in 2011, with filings from Russia, the European Union, and the United States leading the surge.
A total of 42,270 applications were filed through WIPO's Madrid system of international registration, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous year, the United Nations agency said.
The Madrid Protocol is an international treaty that allows a trademark owner to seek registration in any of the countries that have joined the Madrid Protocol by filing a single application, called an "international application." The International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization, in Geneva, Switzerland administers the international registration system.
The resulting "international registration" serves as a means for seeking protection in member countries, each of which apply their own rules and laws to determine whether or not the mark may be protected in their jurisdiction.
If you sell products or provide services outside the United States, or if you have plans to do so, you should strongly consider seeking protection for your trademarks outside the United States.
Flaster Greenberg’s intellectual property attorneys files hundreds of trademark applications each year, including international applications under the provisions of the Madrid Protocol. If you have any questions regarding whether your company should seek registration of your trademarks either within or outside the United States, please contact a member of the Intellectual Property Group at Flaster Greenberg PC.
