International Trademark Registration: Can One Application Protect Your Brand in 130+ Countries?

A U.S. outdoor gear company came to us after a Hong Kong trading company began selling knockoffs under its brand. The company thought it was protected. It held a WIPO international registration designating China and several other countries and assumed that registration covered its brand everywhere that mattered. It did not cover Hong Kong, because a Madrid designation of China never does, and its China protection covered its backpacks but not the trekking poles that had become one of its best sellers. We see this misunderstanding regularly, usually after someone else has started using the brand.

That company's mistake grew out of a question our international trademark lawyers hear all the time: can one application protect a brand in many countries? In many countries, yes. WIPO's Madrid System and regional systems covering the European Union, the Benelux countries, and parts of Africa make that possible. But there is still no worldwide trademark. Trademark rights are territorial, each jurisdiction's law determines what protection a company receives there, and a company that mistakes a Madrid filing for global protection may not discover the gaps until someone exploits one.

Is There Such a Thing as an International Trademark?

No. Madrid gives a company one place to seek protection in many countries, but the resulting rights remain national or regional and are determined by each designated country or regional office under its own law. The Madrid System covers more than 130 countries. An eligible trademark owner files one international application in one language, pays fees through one system, and designates the countries and regional systems where it wants protection.

A U.S. company seeking protection in China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and the European Union can file one application designating all seven jurisdictions rather than filing separately in each. WIPO forwards each designation to the relevant office, which examines it under its own trademark law. China can refuse the mark while Japan, the EU, and the rest approve it.

Who Can File a Madrid Application?

Madrid is open to applicants that are nationals of a Madrid member, are domiciled in one, or have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment there. That member's trademark office serves as the office of origin, and the international application must rest on a trademark application or registration filed there, known as the basic mark. A U.S. company therefore needs a U.S. trademark application or registration before filing through Madrid. The international application must match the basic mark. It can narrow the goods and services the U.S. filing covers, and narrow them differently for each designated country, but it can never add to them. Since October 1, 2026, U.S. applicants file through WIPO's Madrid e-Filing platform and pay WIPO's fees directly in Swiss francs, while the USPTO still certifies that the international application corresponds to the U.S. filing. Companies based in other Madrid members use the same system through their home trademark offices.

What Kinds of Trademarks Can Madrid Protect?

Madrid can be used for many kinds of marks, including words, logos, colors, product shapes, packaging, and sounds, provided the basic filing covers the mark and WIPO's representation requirements can be met. The international application reproduces the basic mark, and each designated office decides under its own law whether that kind of mark can be protected there. A shape or color that has acquired distinctiveness in the United States may have to establish that distinctiveness again in a country that questions it, and national laws do not recognize all nontraditional marks equally. The USPTO, for example, registered the scent of Play-Doh in 2018, while China's Trademark Law recognizes specified categories that include three-dimensional marks, color combinations, sounds, and, beginning in 2027, motion marks, but not scent marks.

What Happens After a Madrid Application Is Filed?

WIPO examines formalities, including fees and the classification of goods and services, but does not decide whether the mark can be protected in the countries designated. Once it finds the formalities in order, WIPO records the international registration, publishes it in the WIPO Gazette of International Marks, issues a certificate, and notifies each designated office. That certificate means WIPO has completed the international registration. It does not mean the trademark has cleared examination everywhere it was designated.

The designated offices examine the mark as they would a national application, and most publish it locally so third parties can oppose it. An office that objects must notify WIPO of a provisional refusal within 12 months, or within 18 months for offices that have extended the deadline. Where no refusal issues, or the owner overcomes one, the mark receives the same protection in that country as a direct national registration.

What Does Madrid Do Well?

For a company that needs protection in several participating countries, Madrid can save substantial time and money. The company need not hire counsel in every designated country at the outset, and WIPO's fee calculator shows the official fees for different combinations of countries and classes. Renewals, ownership changes, and address changes are recorded once with WIPO rather than country by country, the registration renews every ten years, and new countries can be added later through a subsequent designation as the business grows. WIPO sends an unofficial reminder six months before each renewal deadline, but the owner remains responsible for renewing even if the reminder never arrives. A six-month grace period is available for a surcharge.

Where Do Madrid's Savings Disappear?

The savings are largest at filing and smallest when something goes wrong. A provisional refusal must be answered under local law, usually through local counsel, and that can erase much of the savings from filing centrally. Madrid tends to work best when a company seeks protection in several countries for a straightforward mark and expects relatively little country-specific trouble. Every added designation is another trademark office that can object, and one difficult jurisdiction can consume a disproportionate share of the budget.

Local requirements can also multiply the work Madrid was supposed to consolidate. Mexico does not permit multi-class trademark registrations, so an international registration covering five classes and designating Mexico produces separate Mexican protection for each class. Each class also carries its own maintenance obligations, including the declaration of actual and effective use Mexico requires after the third anniversary of the grant of protection. The Philippines likewise requires declarations of actual use on its own schedule. WIPO does not take over these local obligations, and missing one can end protection in that country. Madrid also provides no central enforcement system, so a company still has to watch for conflicting filings and infringement in the markets that matter and enforce its rights under local law.

What Is Madrid's Five-Year Dependency Rule?

For five years from the international registration date, the international registration depends on the basic mark. If the U.S. basic application or registration ceases to have effect during that period, through refusal, withdrawal, cancellation, or otherwise, the international registration is canceled to the same extent in every designated jurisdiction. An attack on the basic mark that produces that result is called a central attack. Transformation can preserve the international registration date and any priority claim, but only if the owner files national or regional applications within three months of the cancellation. Those applications cannot cover more than the goods and services listed in the international registration, and the owner must then pursue and pay for each one, usually through local counsel in every country it designated.

The USPTO recommends that companies relying on a pending U.S. application consider waiting for the first office action before filing internationally. Waiting carries its own risk. To claim the U.S. filing date as its priority date, the international application generally must be filed within six months. If the first USPTO office action arrives after that window closes, waiting means giving up the earlier priority date. In a first-to-file country such as China, that can matter enormously. We weigh those risks matter by matter. A registered basic mark cannot fail in prosecution, though it can still be canceled during the five-year dependency period.

Which Regional Trademark Systems Cover Multiple Countries?

A single European Union trade mark covers all 27 EU member states, and a company can file directly with the EUIPO or designate the EU through Madrid. Unlike a Madrid registration designating individual countries, an EU trademark is one unitary right, and an earlier right in a single EU country can be enough to defeat the EU-wide application. When the problem exists only in certain countries, conversion can preserve national applications in the countries where the problem does not apply.

OAPI, the African Intellectual Property Organization, runs a single trademark system for 17 countries, mostly in West and Central Africa. One OAPI registration covers all 17 countries, and there is no parallel national trademark registration system in the member states. OAPI also belongs to Madrid, so an applicant can designate OAPI through an international registration and obtain protection across its territory.

ARIPO, the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization, works differently. Under the Banjul Protocol, an applicant can use one application to designate participating member states, and each designation remains subject to the law applicable in that country. One country can reject protection while others allow it. That makes ARIPO closer in structure to Madrid than to OAPI or the EU. Unlike OAPI, ARIPO itself cannot be designated through Madrid. An ARIPO registration also does not guarantee an enforceable right in every country named on it. In 2025, Tanzania's Court of Appeal held that a trademark registered through ARIPO had no protection under Tanzanian law because Tanzania had not domesticated the Banjul Protocol. ARIPO then stopped accepting Tanzania designations until further notice. A company relying on ARIPO should therefore confirm that the right it expects to obtain is recognized and enforceable in each country that matters.

Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg share one trademark system administered by the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property, which can also be designated through Madrid. Because all three countries are EU members, many companies choose an EU trademark instead. A separate Benelux filing can still make sense when the business or portfolio strategy is concentrated there.

Many trade blocs have no regional trademark at all. ASEAN offers no single registration for Southeast Asia, so a company that wants protection in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines needs rights in each, though Madrid simplifies filing in most of them. A common market, free-trade area, or customs union does not by itself create a common trademark system.

Which Countries Does Madrid Not Reach?

Madrid still leaves out several important markets. Taiwan cannot join because it is not a WIPO member. Hong Kong and Macao run their own trademark systems, and a China designation covers neither, which matters to any company that sells in Hong Kong or works through a Hong Kong trading company or other intermediary. Hong Kong enacted legislation in 2020 to create a legal framework for implementing Madrid, but as of October 2026 its Intellectual Property Department still describes implementation as a proposed system under development, so Hong Kong protection still requires a Hong Kong filing.

Madrid covers only part of Latin America and the Caribbean, so Argentina, Peru, and most of Central America require direct filings. South Africa remains outside the system as well. Madrid membership changes, so check WIPO's current member list before assuming a country is covered.

Should a Company Use Madrid or File Directly in China?

China participates in Madrid, and a China designation can make sense for a company filing in many countries with a short, simple list of goods. For companies that rely on China as a manufacturing or sales market, we usually prefer a direct China filing, and the reasons start with classification. China uses the international Nice classes but divides many of them into subclasses, and those subclasses often determine the practical scope of protection. A Madrid designation carries over the goods description from the basic filing, and CNIPA then applies China's classification system to that description. A description drafted for the USPTO does not necessarily cover all the Chinese subclasses the business needs. Our China Trademark Registration guide explains this system and the other issues foreign companies should address before filing.

A U.S. kitchenware company designated China through Madrid using the goods description from its U.S. application, which covered pots and pans. CNIPA protected the mark for that cookware and nothing else in Class 21. A Chinese company then registered the identical mark for glass food storage containers and ceramic bakeware, which China places in different Class 21 subclasses. Both registrations stand, and our client cannot safely make or sell its new line of glass storage containers in China under its own brand without buying the mark back or winning an invalidation action. A direct China filing drafted around Chinese subclasses would have covered all of it from the start.

Language is another reason. Companies selling to Chinese consumers often need a Chinese-character mark, and they need it before the market picks a Chinese name for them. A company that manufactures in China only for export rarely does, and that filing is money it does not need to spend. A Madrid application cannot turn an English-language basic mark into a Chinese-character mark, so a company that wants a Chinese-language mark files it separately.

Timing and enforcement also matter. A straightforward direct China application typically takes roughly six to eight months from filing to registration when nothing goes wrong. Under Madrid, China has 18 months to issue certain provisional refusals, and an opposition can extend matters further. A direct China filing also produces a CNIPA registration certificate, which is useful when dealing with Chinese Customs and other enforcement authorities. A Madrid holder that needs equivalent Chinese proof of protection generally must obtain it separately from CNIPA, adding another step when the owner may need to move quickly.

China is a first-to-file country, subject to limited exceptions, and waiting gives someone else more time to register the brand first. China's amended Trademark Law, which takes effect January 1, 2027, strengthens some of the tools available against abusive trademark filings but retains the basic first-to-file system. Fighting over a mark after someone else files for it remains slower, more expensive, and less certain than filing first.

We recommend filing the China trademark before revealing the brand to manufacturers, sourcing agents, distributors, or other China-side parties. Whichever route a company chooses, filing early matters more than choosing the theoretically neatest route. For manufacturers, the trademark filing often coincides with putting a China NNN Agreement in place before disclosure. The trademark establishes rights in the brand against third parties; the NNN Agreement controls what the companies that sign it can do with the designs, commercial information, and other material they receive.

How Should a Company Build an International Trademark Portfolio?

Madrid deserves serious consideration whenever a company expects to protect its brand in several participating countries. Direct national filings make more sense where one country matters especially, where local classification practice calls for careful drafting, where the company needs another version of the mark, or where enforcement concerns justify a separate strategy. Nothing requires a company to use the same filing route everywhere. A company can file directly in China, obtain an EU trademark, and use Madrid for markets such as the UK, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Even within Madrid, the goods and services that worked in the basic filing need to be considered against the classification and examination practices of the countries being designated.

Our outdoor gear client did nothing unusual in using Madrid. Its mistake was assuming Madrid had answered the country-by-country questions for it. Start with where you manufacture, sell, distribute, and license, and where counterfeiting or trademark squatting presents a real risk. Then decide which marks and goods need protection in each place and which filing route gets you there. Madrid and the regional systems have made international filing far easier than it once was, but trademark rights remain territorial. The point is to own the right marks, for the right goods and services, in the countries where losing them would hurt.