International Trade Mark Registration

A Community Trade Mark (CTM) may be applied for to cover all 27 countries in the European Union under a single registration.  A Benelux Trade Mark can also be registered to cover Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in a single registration.

Additionally, there is supra-national system available of International Registration via the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) under the so-called ‘Madrid Protocol’.

Under this system, persons or firms in the UK may apply for either a UK or CTM registration and then use this as the basis for an application for International Registration, designating those territories within the Madrid Protocol it is desired to cover, presently as follows:

The cost of filing an application for International Registration depends on how many countries are designated. 

Applications for International Registration are submitted to WIPO in Geneva via the UK Intellectual Property Office or CTM Office, depending on which has been used as the basis for International Registration, and then, after initial processing and registration, are passed to the registries of the designated countries  for individual national examination.

Trade mark registration in countries which are not part of the Madrid Protocol system of International Registration has to be made purely on a national basis by applying in each of them separately, at a cost usually of about £500 - £1000 each.

Both the International Registration and CTM systems are substantially cheaper than registering separately in each of the individual countries they cover, but in any event to cover every county in the world (193 in total) would be very expensive and likely to cost a six figure sum. 

Quotations and further information can be provided on request – we have a global network of trade mark, patent & copyright attorneys to meet all requirements.