There is no system as yet wherein a single Trademark Application is sufficient to protect the Trademark Rights Internationally. But according to Paris Convention the member countries can claim priority of 6 months in filing the subsequent application in other member countries.

Yet different countries have combined hands for filing a single Trademark Application to protect the Trademark Rights in their countries.

Community Trademark ( CTM )

The European Union consisting of 15 countries has adapted the Trademark System which is called Community Trademark ( CTM ) wherein a single Trademark Application protects the interest of trademark in 15 member countries and the benefit of CTM can be availed by Non - European Union and prior registration is not necessary for obtaining the registration under CTM.

Similarly O.A.P.I., a group of African nations have replaced their national Trademark Office with common Trademark Office.

Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks

The Madrid system of international registration of marks has suddenly become an issue of importance. The Madrid system of international registration of marks is applicable among the countries party to the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol.

This system gives a trademark owner the possibility to have his mark protected in several countries by simply filing one application with a single Office, in one language, with one set of fees in one currency (Swiss francs).

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Advantages

An international registration produces the same effects as an application for registration of the mark made in each of the countries designated by the applicant. If protection is not refused by the trademark Office of a designated country within a specified period (12 or 18 months), the protection of the mark is the same as if it had been registered by that Office.

The Madrid system simplifies greatly also the subsequent management of the mark, since it is possible to record subsequent changes (such as a change in ownership or a change in the name or address of the holder) or to renew the registration through a simple single procedural step with the International Bureau of WIPO.

Trade mark owners have a simple and cost effective system for filing applications for trademark registrations abroad via a single and centralized filing procedure.