Subsequent designation means that after the trademark applicant obtains international registration, he applies for the same trademark and designates other member countries of the Madrid Union that are not included in this international registration to provide trademark protection.

For example: a company applies for international registration through the Madrid system, and the designated protecting country is country A (that is, the trademark is required to be protected in country A). Later, a company's trade is expanded to country B. The company can apply for subsequent designation of the same trademark and add country B as a designated protecting country.

Post-designation is basically the same as an application for international trademark registration, but the scope of goods or services and their categories can be different. Differentiation here means narrowing the range of goods or services, or reducing the categories.