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Trademark registration abroad under the Madrid Agreement

In this context, no one can deny the importance and value of the intellectual properties brought to businesses in particular and the modern economy in general. One of the most important and particularly important intellectual property assets in the business is the trademark. Accordingly, a trademark is a sign used to distinguish goods or services of different organizations and individuals. A trademark is one of the special factors that help businesses make a profit and facilitate their business because the trademark shown on a product of enterprise A can help consumers distinguish the products of a business B. In addition, enterprises that have a strategy to expand their product development market abroad have been very popular to prevent and limit the infringement of intellectual property rights. On the other hand, to help businesses have the right to own, maximize the benefits of the trademark, prevent or handle infringement, the registration of trademark protection abroad is essentially necessary to protect the interests of the business.

As mentioned about the importance of trademark protection registration, trademark registration abroad, or international trademark registration, the trademark owner can choose either of two forms of filing a trademark application abroad are: (i) direct registration in each country where the trademark owner chooses and (ii) registration under the Madrid system. Direct registration is a traditional form because it is similar to trademark registration in the country of the trademark owner who wishes to apply for protection. Therefore, the trademark owner must have a certain understanding of intellectual property law provisions for the country that they intend to register and must follow the registration procedure in the country in which the trademark owner wants to register in that country. For trademark registration through the Madrid system, this is a trademark international registration system administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), created to facilitate convenient for registering trademarks at the same time in many countries around the world. This system is governed by two main legal documents: the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol. In particular, Vietnam has been a member of the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol so that Vietnamese businesses can apply to the countries that are members of both documents above. Basically, the contents of the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol are the same, but there are certain differences. This article only states the contents of international trademark registration under the Madrid Agreement.

Some basic contents when registering a national trademark under the Madrid Agreement include such things as how to apply for international registration and processing of the application, the period of validity and extension of validity, registration fee and some notes when registering.

- How to apply: citizens of all member states or applicants with production facilities submit their applications to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Regarding the form of the application, the applicant must present in the prescribed general form, that is presented in a common form. The application must be certified by the office in the country of origin that the details of the application correspond to the details of the national register, and must notify the date of the application and the date of registration such as the application number, registration number, and entire date of the international registration. At the same time, the application indicates the goods or services under which the trademark is claimed for protection according to the classification of goods established under the Nice Agreement on the International Classification of Goods and Services for the purpose of registration brand.

- Processing applications: The International Bureau will review and register immediately the trademarks submitted in accordance with the Madrid Agreement. The date of registration will be the date of filing the international registration application in the country of origin, if the application is received by the International Bureau within two months from that date. If the International Bureau does not receive the application within the above period, it will register by the date the application is received. The International Bureau will notify without delay to the relevant Agency. The registered trademark will be published in the periodical magazine published by the International Bureau, based on the details of the application. In cases where the mark contains graphic elements or special-shaped words, the rule will determine the applicant's ability to submit print copies.

- Validity period time: trademark registration at the International Bureau takes effect within 20 years. Any trademark can be renewed with an extension of 20 years from the expiry of the previous period. Accordingly, within the period of six months prior to the expiry of the period of validity, the International Bureau shall send a notice to the trademark owner or their representative of the expiry date.

- Registration fee: by paying basic fees and surcharges for each group of products according to the international classification of which goods and services will apply the trademark of the group onwards; and additional fees for requesting to extend the protection scope. Fees for international applications under the Agreements and Protocols. The Automatic Charging Program posted on the WIPO website, at www.wipo.int/madrid/en/fees/. The registration fee must be completed within a certain period of time notified to the applicant for trademark protection. In case of expiry of the prescribed time limit, the applicant does not pay the surcharge or in some other cases specified in the Agreement, ... the international registration application shall be considered withdrawn.

- Some notes when registering for trademark protection under the Madrid Agreement are (i) when applying for international trademark registration, the applicant only needs to submit one application by in one language fees must be paid to an agency. This means that the applicant can apply for trademark protection in many countries that are members of the Madrid Agreement; (ii) in terms of the application, the applicant may only apply for registration when the mark has been granted a registration protection title in the country of origin. In addition, the registered trademark must meet the laws of the country of protection. In terms of the registered language, the international trademark application under the Madrid Agreement is French.

Legal basis:
-    The 2005 Law on Intellectual Property, amended in 2009;
-    Madrid Agreement;
-    The Protocol relates to the Madrid Agreement on international trademark registrations.
 
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