Madrid Protocol amendments come into force

　　Several amendments to regulations under the Madrid Agreement and Protocol came into force on November 1, 2017.

　　The Madrid Protocol allows protection for trademarks in multiple countries through the filing of one application with a single office, in one language, with one set of fees.

　　Rules 3, 25 and 32 cover the appointment or cancellation of a representative for international trademark registration.

　　From today, November 1, each time a representative is appointed or cancelled, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will notify the IP offices in the countries and regions covered by the registration.

　　The change will also be published in the WIPO Gazette.

　　Applicants can also include a voluntary description of the mark in an international application or subsequent designation to avoid the risk of provisional refusal.

　　According to WIPO, certain countries (including the US and India) require applicants to provide a description of their mark in an international trademark application.

　　“This may be the case where the trademark is represented in ‘non-standard’ or non-Latin characters. Applicants who fail to provide the required description can find themselves dealing with an unexpected provisional refusal,” said the organisation.

　　Finally, unremedied irregularities involving Form MM18, which covers the declaration of intention to use the mark in the US, will no longer lead to the abandonment of a subsequent designation request in other target markets.

　　In October, Indonesia became the 100th member of the Madrid System.

Source: WIPR

Editor: Camila