Madrid System

The Madrid System, also known as the Madrid Protocol, provides a system whereby an owner may register a trademark with multiple countries by filing a single application. When a trademark owner completes a trademark registration application within the Madrid System, the system registers the trademark with each of the participating jurisdictions.

The Madrid System provides the obvious advantage of efficiency, since it makes registration of a trademark in all member countries a single process. Likewise, the system applies any changes or updates to the trademark registration across all jurisdictions. This process provides significant costs savings to the applicant as well.

The Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks of 1891 and the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement of 1989 provided the legal basis for the Madrid System. The World Intellectual Property Organisation is responsible for administration of the Madrid System. As of January 2013, there were 89 member countries participating within the Madrid System.