How to register an international trademark extremely effectively (Trademark Law benefits from a much more successful arrangement than the parallel arrangement of Patent Laws)
An application for an international trademark relies on filing a local application, where the local application must be filed in a country with an affinity to the applicant. For example, a company with operations in Israel or a company registered in Israel can file the basic application in Israel.
Note that the local application constitutes the main disadvantage of the Madrid Protocol since in the first years after the date of filing, cancellation, reduction or rejection of the local application will affect all other applications.
The application is based on the local application. The international application specifies the relevant countries in which you wish to file the trademark and pay fees accordingly.
After filing the international application, an examination procedure begins in all relevant countries. The trademark registrars in the relevant countries examine the international trademark. Different registrars can come to different conclusions. Once a registrar has approved the application, it is unnecessary to continue the investigation of the application – which greatly simplifies the examination process. If a registrar files an objection to the trademark, a response is required, which usually requires the assistance of a local patent attorney.
We use the Madrid Protocol where it is necessary to file thetrademark in many countries, and highly recommend this system.
The Madrid Protocol provides a much better solution than the parallel one in the world of patents. The Protocol obviates the need to obtain local representation where the Registrar has approved the application (which does not exist in Patent Law), and also arranges the registration in the countries themselves (which is not arranged in Patent Law).