Effective from today, 1 November, national/regional IP offices must give holders of Madrid System international registrations (IRs) a minimum time period of 60 days or 2 months to respond to provisional refusals.

Moreover, also effective from 1 November, WIPO will give holders of IRs a clear indication of the relevant start and end date for responding to provisional refusals.

These changes were explained by Debbie Roenning, Director of Madrid Legal Division, Madrid Registry, Brands and Designs Sector, WIPO at a session on the Madrid System during the MARQUES Annual Conference in Berlin in September, and prompted a spontaneous round of applause from the audience of brand owners and IP practitioners.

“This is a very positive development for all users of the international trademark system and demonstrates how MARQUES can help deliver real change for brand owners. Big thanks to all the MARQUES Team members who have worked on this issue over several years,” said Antony Douglass, Specsavers Optical Group Limited, who is Chair of the MARQUES Council.

MARQUES has been arguing in favour of this change in the WIPO Madrid Working Group for a number of years (see this paper from 2019 for example).

“It’s absolutely fantastic that WIPO has listened to the voice of users,” said Jessica Le Gros, Baker McKenzie, UK, who chairs the MARQUES International Law and Practice Team. “It shows that we can achieve changes that make the IR system more efficient for users,” she added.

For more information about the Madrid System, please see the MARQUES International Trade Mark Law and Practice Team page.