International Trademark Registration: Madrid Protocol

Your trademark only protects you in the country where it is registered, and expanding abroad means filing in each market you care about.

The Madrid Protocol simplifies this by letting you file one international application that extends your trademark to any of over 120 member countries in a single step.

How Madrid works

• Start with a base registration in your home country
• File one international application through the system
• Designate the countries where you want protection
• Each designated country examines independently

The tradeoffs

• Cheaper and simpler than filing country by country
• Tied to the home registration for the first five years
• Each country can still refuse on its own grounds
• Renewals are handled through one central process

If you sell in several markets, Madrid turns a dozen separate filings into one manageable application with real cost savings.

When Madrid is worth it

Madrid pays off when you need several markets, but for one or two countries, direct filing can be simpler.

• Count your target markets first
• Compare direct versus Madrid costs
• Mind the home-registration dependency