I. Registration conditions
Madrid trademark registration: To apply for registration of a Madrid trademark, the applicant must have certain subjective qualifications, and the trademark applying for international registration must have started certain trademark registration application procedures in China (that is, the trademark has been registered or has been applied for registration and accepted).
country-by-country registration: in most countries around the world, it is not necessary to register trademarks in their own countries, and enterprises are free to apply for any trademarks and formulate any categories of goods or services.
II. Registration Procedures
Madrid International Trademark Registration: At present, Madrid Union has 14 contracting States, and an application for international trademark registration can designate all countries at the same time, and all countries will be protected by trademarks after the registration application is passed. The registration procedure is very simple. Similarly, it is precisely because of the limited number of States parties in the Madrid Union that some countries that are not in the Madrid Union still need to register one by one to apply for international trademarks.
country-by-country registration: applicants need to apply for registration one by one according to the specific regulations of each country/region, and the registration procedures are complicated.
iii. time of registration
Madrid international trademark registration: when an applicant submits an application to the Trademark Office, it usually takes about 6 months to receive the international trademark registration certificate from the International Bureau, and it will be known within 12 months whether the registration application is successful or not, that is, it only takes about 18 months to complete the Madrid international trademark registration.
country-by-country registration: the time for registering international trademarks can be long or short, and those with long review time, such as Brazil, India and the Philippines, are basically more than three years; The short review time, such as Switzerland, Singapore, Germany, France, etc., can be completed in almost one year.
IV. Registration Risk
Madrid International Trademark Registration: An application for international trademark registration specifies multiple countries at the same time, and the specific provisions of each country/region are different, so it is more likely to be rejected and the risk of registration failure is higher.
country-by-country registration: when registering an international trademark country by country, a trademark registration inquiry will generally be conducted in that country to find out the registration situation of the international trademark to be registered, such as cybersquatting and infringement, which can effectively reduce the risk of registration failure.
v. trademark management
Madrid international trademark registration: each internationally registered trademark has only one registration number, and all subsequent management businesses about the trademark, such as change, transfer, deletion, renewal and cancellation, are based on this registration number, and the international bureau will register each internationally registered trademark at all stages. Enterprises can also check and master the latest situation of the trademark in various Madrid Union countries through the website of the International Bureau according to the registration number.
country by country registration: there are different registration certificates in different countries/regions, and the registration situation in each country needs to be inquired separately, so it takes a lot of time and energy to manage international trademarks.
VI. Trademark Protection
Madrid International Trademark Registration: If the trademark is not protected by law in whole or in part in the country within five years after the national registration of the trademark, the international trademark is not protected by law in whole or in part in the contracting country.
country-by-country registration: the registration of an international trademark is protected by the laws of that country, and the right to use the international trademark remains stable within the validity period, except that the obligee seriously violates the trademark laws of that country.
VII. Registration fee
Madrid international trademark registration: The registration fee is much cheaper than country-by-country registration. In the case of batch registration, the registration fee is even cheaper by more than half. Madrid international trademark registration fee includes two specific contents, namely, the registrar fee of the domestic trademark office and the agency fee of the domestic trademark agency.
country-by-country registration: in addition to the trademark registrar fees required by various countries/regions and the agency fees of domestic trademark agencies, there will also be agency fees of foreign trademark agencies, because according to the legal requirements of various countries, applicants usually need to entrust local agencies of various countries to submit registration applications.
combining the above points, it should be clear to everyone that the advantages of Madrid registration are simple procedures and low cost. However, there are also his disadvantages, such as high threshold and high risk. The advantages of country-by-country registration are low threshold, easy to confirm rights and easy to control risks. Its disadvantages are high cost, complicated procedures and difficult management. Therefore, when handling international trademark registration, enterprises need to comprehensively consider the factors such as registration purpose, risk control, budget, market importance, export demand, etc., and choose the right registration method according to their own market enterprises.