Under the Madrid Agreement, international registration is to be granted if the trademark registration application is appropriately and completely filled out, providing for all the necessary information, as well as any other requirements that may be asked by the Trademark Office of the mark’s origin, or of the International Register Office.
The International Bureau will ultimately decide whether or not the application is filed under the compliant provisions, and if it is deemed as such, the mark will be registered in the International Register. After the trademark registration is complete, the International Bureau will notify the domestic Office, as well as the applicant for international trademark registration and any contracting parties involved. The trademark registration will contain the following information, indicating proper registration and application approval:
All of the pertinent data as found in the international trademark application, with the exception of a priority claim
This exception pertains to any priority claim filed more that six months than the date of international registration.
The date that international registration occurred under the Madrid Agreement.
The international trademark registration number under the Madrid Agreement.
The mark’s classification according the the International Classification of Figurative Elements.
The exception occurs when the applicant declares that the mark being registered is to be considered in standard characters, in which case, the International Bureau will determine the equivalent characters as found in the Classification system.
The contracting party’s classification in accordance to the Madrid Agreement or Madrid Protocol
In regards to a prior mark as used by an organization, and seniority is claimed under said mark, the date of which the earlier mark was registered and the international trademark registration number will also be included on the trademark registration.
Under certain circumstances, there may be discrepancies regarding the actual date of the international trademark registration. These situations will usually arise from the trademark registration application being filed incomplete or not containing pertinent information that would ultimately deviate and slow down the registration process.
The most common occurrences could be that the application does not have the mark’s owner’s name or address, or any other way of contacting the individual or corporation filing for the registration; the application does not appropriately assign the names of the contracting parties, after declaring such an incorporation for registration; the reproduction of the actual mark in question is not provided on the application; or the classification of what products or goods the mark being registered is associated it with.
If classification of goods for the mark is missing, the International Bureau will provide the date of registration in concurrence with the date that the missing information is finally supplied. An incomplete application for international trademark registration will have the span of a two-month period to provide for the missing information. In the case that the missing information is in regards to any other factor but the classification of goods, it shall be registered under the date that the incomplete trademark registration form was received by the domestic Office.
