International Trademark Registration: The Madrid Protocol

International Trademark Registration via the Madrid Protocol: What Indian Businesses Need to Know Before Filing

A company based in India registers its brand name in India. Two years later, it begins exporting to Germany, the UAE, and the United States. In each of those markets, a competitor has already filed the same or a similar name. The Indian registration offers no protection outside India. The company now faces the choice of either fighting three separate conflicts in three separate jurisdictions or accepting that its brand in those markets belongs to someone else.

This situation is avoidable. But only if the decision to file internationally is made before market entry, not after a conflict has developed in a target market. The Madrid Protocol is the mechanism most Indian businesses use to make that happen efficiently.

What the Madrid Protocol Does and Does Not Do

The Madrid Protocol is an international treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization  Organization, whose headquarters are based in from Geneva. It allows a trademark owner to file a single international application through their home country’s trademark office and designate any number of member countries where protection is sought. As of July 2026, the Madrid System covers 117 members across 133 countries, including the US, the EU, the UK, China, Japan, Australia, the UAE, and most major trading jurisdictions. The full and current list of member countries is maintained by WIPO and updated as new members join. 

Filing under the Madrid Protocol does not mean one application equals one worldwide trademark. Each designated country examines the mark under its own national law and can grant or refuse protection independently. What the Protocol actually does is remove the administrative complexity of managing separate filings, separate local agents, and separate renewal deadlines in every country. One application goes in, one renewal comes due, but the outcome in each country is still decided by that country’s own trademark office. 

India became a member of the Madrid Protocol on 8 July 2013. Indian businesses file international applications through the Indian Trade Marks Registry, which acts as the Office of Origin.

Who Can File From India

Two conditions must be satisfied. The applicant must have a qualifying connection to India: Indian nationality, domicile in India, or a real and effective commercial establishment in India. And the applicant must have either a pending trademark application or a granted trademark registration in India. This Indian mark is called the basic mark, and the international application is built entirely on it.

The goods and services specified in the international trademark application cannot go beyond what the basic mark covers. If the Indian basic mark is registered only for pharmaceutical products, the international application cannot extend to medical devices or consultancy services. The scope of the Indian mark sets the ceiling of what the international registration can cover.

The Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Establish the Indian basic mark. The applicant must have a pending Indian trademark application or a granted registration. This is the foundation everything else rests on.

Step 2: File the international application through the Indian Registry. The applicant files Form MM2(E), the standard WIPO form, through the Indian Trade Marks Registry. The application specifies the mark, the designated countries, and the goods and services for which protection is sought.

Step 3: Registry certification and transmission to WIPO. The Indian Registry verifies that the international application corresponds to the basic mark and transmits it to WIPO within two months. The international registration date is typically the date the Indian Registry received the application, provided WIPO receives it within the two-month window.

Step 4: WIPO examination and registration. WIPO checks the application for formal compliance, registers the mark in the International Register, and publishes it in the WIPO Gazette of International Marks. WIPO does not examine the mark on substantive grounds.

Step 5: National examination in designated countries. Each designated country’s trademark office examines the application under its own national law. Under the treaty, member countries must notify WIPO of any objections or provisional refusals within a default 12-month track, though major jurisdictions like the US, UK, China, and India have extended this to a maximum 18-month ceiling.  If no refusal is raised within that period, protection in that country is deemed granted. India has declared under the Madrid Protocol that opposition-based provisional refusals can be notified after the 18-month period has expired. 

Although some countries require a separate Declaration of Intention to Use when designated in a Madrid application, India does not require this additional step, as the system automatically files the application on a 'proposed to be used' basis.

Why Your Indian Trademark Strength Affects Your International Protection

For the first five years from the international registration date, the international registration is entirely dependent on the fate of the Indian basic mark. If the Indian basic application is refused, or the Indian registration is cancelled within that five-year window, protection ceases automatically in every designated country for the affected goods or services. This is called central attack.

A business whose Indian trademark is successfully opposed or invalidated within five years of filing internationally can lose its protection across every designated country simultaneously, regardless of how well-established the mark has become in those markets. After five years, the international registration becomes independent of the basic mark.

This is why the strength and registrability of the Indian basic mark must be assessed before building an international portfolio on it. The practical response is straightforward: resolve any pending objections or oppositions on the Indian basic mark before filing internationally, and ensure the mark is as defensible as possible before the international application goes in.

What the Madrid Route Does Not Cover

Despite its broad membership, the Madrid System does not cover every market. Taiwan and certain Middle Eastern and South African countries remain outside the system. For these markets, separate direct national filings through local counsel are required regardless of what the Madrid application covers. For any international filing strategy, identifying target markets that fall outside the Madrid System early is an important part of the planning process.

When Madrid Makes Sense and When Direct Filing Is Better

The Madrid route is most efficient when protection is being sought in multiple member countries simultaneously, using a consistent specification of goods and services. A manufacturing company exporting to ten countries, or a pharmaceutical company planning launches across multiple regulated markets, typically benefits from the centralised administration and single renewal cycle that Madrid offers.

Direct national filing, through local trademark attorneys in each target country, makes more sense in specific situations. If only one or two countries are being targeted, the cost and administrative overhead of a Madrid filing may not be justified. If different brand names or logos are used in different markets, each mark needs a separate application regardless. And for markets that are not members of the Madrid System, direct filing is the only option.

M&P IP Protectors is an IPR law firm in Ahmedabad India advises pharmaceutical, manufacturing, technology, and engineering companies on international trademark filings and trademark portfolio management across India and international jurisdictions. To discuss whether the Madrid route or direct national filing is the right approach for your target markets, connect with our trademark attorneys.