Philippines joins Madrid

In April the Philippines became the 85^th state to join the Madrid Protocol at World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Madrid trademark system is an international procedural mechanism, which allows a trademark owner the possibility to have his trademark protected in several countries by simply filing one application directly with his own national or regional trademark office.

Now foreign applicants filing through the Madrid System can designate the Philippines. And Filipino applicants can register abroad using Madrid. The IPO will begin accepting applications filed under the Madrid Protocol on July 25. Public consultations on the Philippine Regulations Implementing the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement are currently being undertaken by the IPO Philippines

All 10 ASEAN countries have committed to join Madrid but so far only Singapore and Vietnam have. In fact Vietnam's membership predates its independence, and only Singapore has joined recently, so we will see how the Philippines fares and therefore how Madrid will work throughout this region.