International trademark registration

April 14, 1891 in Madrid, special agreement on registration of the trademark separately in each country was signed. This agreement was intended to overcome the formality and inconvenience for trademark registration in different countries. At present Ukraine is a participating country to the Madrid Agreement.

Under the terms of the Madrid Agreement in order to be able to apply for international registration of trademarks, it is mandatory to have the national registration, which is proven by the certificate of the trademark.

Citizens of countries that have signed the Madrid Agreement may provide in all other participating in the agreement countries protection of their trademarks, used for goods or services and registered in the country of origin. For this it is necessary to submit an application for these marks to an International Bureau which performs the registration of trademarks.

It is important to know that in the Madrid Agreement the validity of the international registration of trademarks is determined - 20 years. If necessary, the registration of a trademark at any time may be extended for a period of 10 years. To do this, you should pay tax. In some cases, payment of additional fees may be required, as prescribed by subsection (2) of Article 8 of the Madrid Agreement.

In each of the countries, indicated in the application for international registration of trademarks, trademark is granted the same legal protection as if it had been submitted there directly.

The applicant has the opportunity to increase the number of countries in which protection of the trademark is requested. For example, your company has planned expansion of exports of goods to other countries. In this case, the owner of international trademark registration shall submit a statement of the so-called "Territorial Extension".

Key advantages of the international registration of trademarks:

• Greatly simplified procedure for filing applications for registration of a trademark. This is due to the fact that the applicant shall submit only one application to the International Bureau of Intellectual Property. In his application, he/she indicates all countries, which he/she plans to expand protection of his/her intellectual property;
• You will save significant funds by using this procedure, because you won t need to pay for registration in each country separately;
  
• It eliminates the need for compliance with the rules of processing of application documents, signs and prints, etc. in each of the countries in which protection of the trademark is requested;
  
• Under the Madrid Agreement, validity of registered trademarks in the International Bureau is 20 years. After paying the required fees you have the possibility of extending it for another 10 years, according to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement.
  

In accordance with the Madrid Agreement, time frame of the examination is limited to 12 months, during which the applicant receives the information on the protection of their rights in all of these countries or a decision to refuse the registration of international trademark.

Firm "Krylova and Partners" has a staff of certified professionals to perform the full scope of works for the international registration of the trademark:

• registration and submission of an application for international registration of trademarks;
  
• legal support of an application for its consideration at the International Bureau and national offices;
  
• receiving a certificate of international registration of a trademark.
  

Patent Attorneys of our organization will perform registration of international trademarks with high quality and within the legal deadlines.