Circuit Seminar on Madrid System held

Co-organized by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Circuit Seminar on Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks was grandly held in Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi Province on May 11. Related officials from WIPO, SAIC and the industry and commerce segments of Shaanxi Province and representatives of well-known (or famous) enterprises and trademark agencies took part in the seminar.

At the opening ceremony, Head of the International Cooperation Department of SAIC An Qinghu, Deputy Director General of WIPO Wang Binying and Director of Shaanxi Provincial Industry and Commerce Bureau Li Zhongwei respectively delivered a speech for the seminar. At the seminar, four topics were elaborated, i.e. the Madrid System for Trademark Holders: Today and Tomorrow, how to gain international registration of marks through the Madrid System, international registration and its use and the experience on using the Madrid System. At the end of the seminar, all the participants made interaction.

Notes: The Madrid system for the international registration of marks (the Madrid system) established in 1891 functions under the Madrid Agreement (1891), and the Madrid Protocol (1989). It is administered by the International Bureau of WIPO located in Geneva, Switzerland.

Thanks to the international procedural mechanism, the Madrid system offers a trademark owner the possibility to have his trademark protected in several countries by simply filing one application directly with his own national or regional trademark office. An international mark so registered is equivalent to an application or a registration of the same mark effected directly in each of the countries designated by the applicant. If the trademark office of a designated country does not refuse protection within a specified period, the protection of the mark is the same as if it had been registered by that Office. The Madrid system also simplifies greatly the subsequent management of the mark, since it is possible to record subsequent changes or to renew the registration through a single procedural step. Further countries may be designated subsequently.