What is a central attack, and how long am I exposed?

For the first five years after the international registration, it depends on your home base mark. If that mark is lost in that window, your international registration is cancelled in every designated country at once, a central attack. After five years it becomes independent. Transformation can convert lost designations into national filings if it happens.

Does one Madrid application protect my brand in every country?

No. A single application lets you apply in many members at once, but each country examines the mark under its own law and can refuse it independently. Madrid streamlines filing, payment, and management, it does not override national examination.

International Trademark Registration: The Madrid Protocol

Q: Do I need a trademark in my home country before filing internationally?

Yes. The Madrid System requires a basic mark, an existing application or registration in your home office, the USPTO for US applicants. Your international application is based on that mark and filed through your home office, which certifies it before sending it to WIPO.

The Madrid Protocol lets you file one international trademark application through your home office and seek protection in up to 132 territories. The catch is a five-year dependency on your home mark.

If you want your brand protected in twenty countries, you do not file twenty trademarks. You file one. The Madrid Protocol, run by WIPO in Geneva, lets you submit a single international application, in one currency, and seek protection across up to 132 territories at once.

It is the closest thing to a global trademark that exists. It is also widely misunderstood, so here is how it actually works.

Key takeaway: Madrid is one application and one payment, not one approval. Each country you name still examines your mark under its own law and can say no.

How it works

You start at home. To file, you need a "basic mark," a trademark application or registration already on file in your home office, the USPTO for US applicants. Your international application is built on that mark, certified by the home office, and sent to WIPO, which records it and forwards it to every country you named. The system has 116 members covering 132 countries and territories, most of the world's trade.

What it costs

Fees are paid to WIPO in Swiss francs. There is a basic fee, 653 CHF for a black-and-white mark or 903 for color, and then a fee for each country you add, either a flat 100 CHF or an individual amount that country sets, with the bigger offices setting their own. WIPO has a fee calculator that totals it before you commit. Your home office charges a separate certification fee on top.

The five-year catch

This is the part to understand before you file. For five years, your international registration depends on that home base mark. If the base mark falls in that window, refused, cancelled, abandoned, your international registration falls with it, in every country at once. Lawyers call it a "central attack." There is a cushion, "transformation," that converts the lost designations into direct national filings while keeping your date, but it is not cheap. After five years, the registration stands on its own.

One application, not one yes

Do not mistake filing for protection. Madrid streamlines the paperwork and the payment beautifully. It does not override anyone's national law. Each office you named examines your mark itself and can refuse it, and a refusal in one country has no effect on the rest. You file once. You still get judged everywhere.