By Maria Antonella Incardona, ECTA WIPO-Link Committee member, Luppi IP, Italy

During its last Assembly, Madrid Union approved significant amendments to the Regulations under the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement, aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the international trade mark registration process and ensuring that trade mark holders receive adequate time to respond to provisional refusals from Contracting Parties.

According to the new Regulation, Offices of designated Contracting Parties are now required to provide trade mark holders with a minimum period of two months (or 60 consecutive or calendar days) to initiate a request for review, appeal, or response to a provisional refusal. The start and end dates of the time limits must be clearly indicated in the notification of provisional refusal, leading to a substantial improvement in transparency for all users of the Madrid System. In addition, details regarding the applicable time limits for responding to provisional refusals will be published in the WIPO Gazette of International Marks, as Contracting Parties must notify the International Bureau with this information.

The amendments to the Regulation came into force on 1 November 2023 and ECTA, which actively advocated for this solution during the WIPO Madrid System WG, is eager to witness their positive effects as soon as possible, although Contracting Parties have until 1 February 2025, to meet the new minimum time limit requirement. To consult the information notice, please click here.

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ECTA advocated for this solution