International Trademarks
& Madrid Protocol

The Madrid Protocol is an international treaty that lets you file one trademark application to seek protection in any of the Madrid System's members, which cover more than 130 countries, through a single procedure administered by WIPO. Your office of origin (the USPTO for applications based on a US application or registration) certifies the international application and forwards it to WIPO. WIPO then sends the application to each designated country's trademark office for examination under that country's laws. Each country can grant or refuse protection independently.

For a Madrid application through the USPTO, yes. You need a basic application or registration with the USPTO, and you must be a US national, be domiciled in the United States, or have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment there. The international application must use the same mark and cover no broader goods or services than the basic mark. These are requirements for the US-origin Madrid route, not for every foreign national application.

As of November 3, 2026, WIPO lists 117 Madrid System members covering 133 countries and representing more than 80% of global trade. You can designate any combination of these members in a single international application. Major markets including the European Union (covering 27 EU member states in one designation), United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Canada, China, Mexico, Brazil, and India are all members. The complete member list is maintained by WIPO and updated as new countries join the treaty.

Total cost has three components: the flat legal fee for the SGL tier you select, the USPTO certification fee per class, and WIPO plus per-country government fees that vary by jurisdiction. As of November 3, 2026, the WIPO basic fee is 653 Swiss francs where no representation of the mark is in color (903 Swiss francs where any representation is in color). Designation fees depend on the designated members and the number of classes. The strategy call confirms the exact government fees before any filing.

For the first five years after the date of international registration, protection under your Madrid registration depends on your basic US application or registration. If, before the five years expire, the basic application or registration is withdrawn, lapses, is renounced, or becomes the subject of a final decision of rejection, revocation, cancellation, or invalidation for all or some of its goods or services, the protection resulting from the international registration may no longer be invoked for those goods or services. The same applies to a final decision reached after the five years in an appeal, action, or opposition begun before they expired. This is called a central attack. If the international registration is then cancelled at the request of the office of origin, the former holder may, within three months of the cancellation, file applications for the same mark in the designated members where it had effect, for goods and services it covered; those applications are treated as filed on the international-registration date or the date of recordal of the territorial extension, as applicable, and enjoy any priority enjoyed by the international registration, subject to each member's requirements and fees. After five years, the international registration becomes independent of the basic mark, except for proceedings begun before the five years expired. SGL monitors central-attack risk throughout the five-year dependency period for Madrid Global Portfolio clients.

Yes. The Madrid Protocol allows subsequent designations at any time after your initial international registration is granted. You pay WIPO and government fees for the newly designated countries plus the legal coordination fee. This makes phased international expansion practical: file in your priority markets first, then add countries as your business grows into them. The Madrid Global Portfolio tier includes a subsequent-designation strategy roadmap that maps platform-footprint and revenue data against Madrid member countries.

Each designated office examines the international application under its own laws. An office that wishes to refuse protection must notify WIPO of the refusal, with all grounds, within one year from the date WIPO sent it notice of the designation, or within 18 months where its member has declared that longer limit; a member that has also so declared may notify an opposition-based refusal after the 18 months if it told WIPO of possible later oppositions before the 18 months ran out and notifies within one month after the opposition period ends and no later than seven months after it begins (Madrid Protocol, art. 5(2)). Refusals split into non-substantive (formal issues like identification of goods, classification, or disclaimer) and substantive (likelihood of confusion with prior marks, descriptiveness, genericness, or geographic descriptiveness). Responses to refusals issued by designated offices are handled through local counsel. Non-substantive refusals are included across every SGL tier. Substantive refusals are included in Madrid Multi-Market (one response) and Madrid Global Portfolio (up to three responses); additional substantive responses are scoped separately at the strategy call. US examination and refusal rules for inbound requests for extension of protection are codified in Lanham Act §68, and each country's national law governs refusals of outbound designations.

After USPTO certification, WIPO registers the mark in the International Register, sends the certificate of international registration, and notifies the designated offices. Each designated office then has one year from WIPO's notice of the designation, or 18 months where its member has declared that limit, under WIPO treaty rules to notify a provisional refusal, subject to the later opposition-based refusals allowed by Article 5(2)(c) of the Madrid Protocol. If no refusal is notified within those limits, or a refusal is later withdrawn, the mark is protected in that member as if that office had registered it (Madrid Protocol, art. 4(1)(a)). Total timeline from filing to confirmed protection across all designated countries depends on country mix, class scope, and any refusals encountered. SGL sets case-specific timing expectations during the strategy call.

Madrid filing is one international application administered by WIPO that designates multiple member countries simultaneously through a single procedure. Direct national filing means a separate application to a national or regional trademark office. We recommend considering direct national filing for nonmember countries and for single-country filings after comparing the fees and requirements.

Madrid registrations renew every ten years through a single WIPO procedure rather than country-by-country. You pay a renewal basic fee plus per-country designation renewal fees on the same ten-year cycle. The Madrid Global Portfolio tier includes a renewal calendar mapped to your designated countries with timely reminders before each deadline. Subsequent designations added later renew on the same cycle as the original international registration regardless of when they were added, so portfolio management remains centralized.