WIPO Begins on-Line Publication of the WIPO Gazette of International Marks
Geneva, September 12, 2005
Press Updates UPD/2005/260
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) began this month publishing an on-line edition of the WIPO Gazette of International Marks, the official publication of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks. The Madrid System is a user-friendly and cost-effective service offered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which facilitates the process of securing trademark protection in multiple countries. The on-line version of the Gazette is available on a weekly basis and is free-of-charge. The Gazette is also available on paper and on CD-ROM, on a subscription basis.
The WIPO Gazette of International Marks contains all relevant data on new international registrations, renewals, subsequent designations as well as other changes to and entries affecting international trademark registrations. The Gazette also contains information of general interest such as declarations and notifications made by contracting parties under the Agreement, the Protocol the two treaties that govern the Madrid System or the Common Regulations under these treaties regarding particular requirements, or the amounts of individual fees.
The on-line edition of the Gazette is an electronic reproduction of the paper version, but offers a number of important advantages for users. Apart from full text search facilities, the on-line version:
- allows easy and immediate access to the contents of an issue of the Gazette as of the day of its publication; and
- is free-of-charge.
The CD-ROM edition is published every four weeks and is cumulative. It also includes a cumulative index for the year to which it relates. This index allows simple searches to be made in one or more issues within a single year according to the name of the holder, the international registration number, any verbal elements of the mark and the type of record published. The search result consists of a list of hits with links to the relevant issue and page of the Gazette. This index is available only on CDROM. Further information about these products is available from the WIPO electronic bookshop at https://www.wipo.int/ebookshop.
The international trademark system administered by WIPO allows a trademark owner the possibility of having a mark protected in up to 76 countries and the European Community (EC) by filing one application, in one language, with one set of fees, in one currency (Swiss francs). Thereafter, the international registration can be maintained and renewed through a single procedure. An international registration under the Madrid System produces the same effects as an application for registration of the mark in each of the contracting parties designated by the applicant. If protection is not refused by the trademark office of a designated contracting party, the status of the mark is the same as if it had been registered by that office. In other words, the system provides a cost-effective and efficient way for trademark holders to secure protection for their marks in multiple countries through the filing of a single application.
The system is governed by two international treaties, namely the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol. The Madrid Protocol which became operational in 1996 introduced several features including the ability to submit applications in English and extend the period for notification of a refusal which made the system more flexible and attractive to a larger number of countries. Applicants may now submit applications in three working languages of the system, namely, English, French and Spanish.
For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:
- Tel: (+41 22) 338 81 61 or (+41 22) 338 95 47;
- E-mail: publicinf@wipo.int
- Fax: (+41 22) 338 82 80.