Jilian Consultants Co., Ltd.
Jilian Consultants Co., Ltd.

Several Common Ways of International Trademark Registration

There are several common registration methods for international trademark registration: one is a single national trademark registration, the other is the Madrid international trademark registration, the third is the EU trademark registration, and the fourth is the African Intellectual Property Organization trademark registration. Jilian Consultants will give you a detailed introduction about the trademark, if you want to know about other information like report on preferential policies of various countries and how to get a virtual office address overseas, you can also contact us.

Do you know why is the international trademark registration overseas is necessary and the several ways of the registration?


1. Single country international trademark registration


It refers to the registration method that directly submits registration applications to the trademark authorities of each country or region. It is also called "country-by-country registration". It is the most commonly used method for international trademark protection and is the same as some international or regional intellectual property protection organizations. The registration method is relative to the registration method of the organization.


Some countries adopt the principle of "use first", that is, the first user has priority to obtain trademark rights, and some countries adopt the principle of "application first", that is, the first applicant has priority to obtain trademark rights; The time required for registration varies greatly from country to country, with the short one taking only about half a year and the long one taking 4-5 years; the validity period, fees and usage requirements of trademarks vary from country to country. Want to know more about brand name trademark registration, contact us.


2. Madrid international trademark registration


Madrid trademark international registration is a kind of trademark international registration protection method between all the contracting states of Madrid. Its biggest feature is that it only needs to submit an application to require registration in multiple contracting states. As of in 2021, the Madrid Union had 108 parties, covering 124 countries. Madrid International Registration is managed by the International Bureau and is located in Geneva, Switzerland. It is one of the institutions under the WIPO.


However, Madrid's application requires a domestic application basis, that is, if the country to be applied by the enterprise is a pure agreement member state, the domestic application must have been initially approved or registered; If the country to be applied by the enterprise is a member state of the protocol, the domestic application must have been accepted or initially approved or registered.


Through Madrid registration, if there is an official review or official rejection, it will be transferred to the single-country procedure for processing.


3. EU international trademark registration


EU trademark registration refers to the registration method of applying for registration protection in all EU countries through the internal market coordination bureau under the EU. Since the EU is a unified market, trademarks will be protected in EU member states after they are registered as "EU (also known as EC)".


in Spain (Alicante) Ali Kent's EU Internal Market Coordination Bureau began accepting EU trademark applications on 1,1, 1996. Applicants for EU trademarks are not limited to nationals of EU member states. Nationals of member states such as the Paris Convention and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) can also apply. The Internal Market Coordination Bureau under the European Union is responsible for the registration and management of the "European Community" trademark. Since the EU is a unified market, trademarks will be protected in EU member states after they are registered as "EC" trademarks.


At present, there are 28 EU member states. If a member state encounters a rejection or someone raises an objection and the registration is finally rejected, the entire EU application will be rejected.


4. International trademark registration of african intellectual property organization


The African Intellectual Property Organization (referred to as OAPI or non-knowledge) is a regional intellectual property protection alliance composed of former French colonies and countries whose official language is French. After the trademark is approved and registered, it is protected in 17 member states and is valid for 10 years. The organization has an intellectual property office in Cameroon, which is in charge of trademark affairs in member countries. Each member country is bound by the African Intellectual Property Organization in the field of trademarks and does not have its own independent trademark system. Therefore, there is no possibility of country-by-country registration in each country, and it can only be registered and protected through the African Intellectual Property Organization.