Under the 'Madrid System' of International Trademark registration, the countries that are members of the Madrid Union (i.e. which are party to the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol) and which are designated by the applicant, provide him after registration of the trademark with rights having the equivalent effect to national registration in these countries.

An application for an International Trademark is based upon a national trademark application or a national registered trademark and it must be filed with the applicant's national Trademark Office: i.e. the Trademark Office of a nation in which the applicant is headquartered or has an enterprise. For a German applicant, a German Trademark as well as a Community Trademark counts as a national negistered trademark.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) performs the examination and registration procedures for International Trademarks at a single location (Geneva, Switzerland) in a single language (French or English). Further information on International Trademarks and on WIPO’s activities is available from the WIPO web-site (see our links under 'services').

The U.S.A. became the a party to the Madrid Protocol on November 02, 2003 (2003-11-02), raising the Madrid Union to 73 members. Consequently, companies having their headquarters or an effective establishment in the U.S.A. may now apply for International Trademarks. Also, companies headquartered or established in other Madrid Union countries may now use the International Trademark route to obtain a trademark having effects in the U.S.A. equal to those of a U.S. national trademark.