If they say international brand, what do you think about? "Great, a brand that will protect me all over the world, what a boon! » ?
If that's what you imagine, then it's time to tell you a little more.
The international trademark is the result of international agreements that have led to the Protocol and the Madrid AgreementThe Commission has adopted two texts governing its filing and registration procedure. Its management has been entrusted to WIPO, whose headquarters are in Geneva, which explains why all fees relating to it are calculated and paid in Swiss francs.
It bears its name well in that it effectively allows its trademark to be registered in several foreign countries. However, it is by no means a worldwide trademark for two reasons:
- The first is that not all countries in the world have joined the international trademark system. In particular, Canada, most of South America and the Arabian Peninsula are not part of it.
- The second is that when filing an international trademark, you must choose the countries in which you want protection, and pay the corresponding fee (the price of which varies from country to country) for each of them. Because the costs are quickly high, hardly anyone designates all the available countries.
The international brand also has several particularities:
- It can't exist without a national (or regional) brand that he uses as a base. The international trademark will be strictly identical to this basic trademark.
- In reality, it only centralizes applications for registration abroad: the validity of the trademark will be examined in each national office, which will be able to raise its own objections and will decide on registration at the local level as if you had made a national application.
But then, you ask us, what is the point of going through the international trademark rather than filing an application in each country? Obviously, it saves time and administrative paperwork, often in languages that you don't speak. It is also a financial gain, because from a certain number of countries, the savings are significant.
You can calculate the amount of fees due for your international trademark application thanks to the WIPO tool.