WIPO Press Release PR/2008/537, "Record Number of International Trademark Filings in 2007", tells Class 46 that a record 39,945 international trade mark applications were received in 2007 under the Madrid system, a 9.5% increase over 2006. Applicants from Germany, for the 15th consecutive year, led the list of top filers, followed by users in France, the United States of America (USA) and the European Community (EC). China remained the most designated country in international trade mark applications, reflecting increasing levels of trading activity by foreign companies in China. As for the European Union,

"The EC continues to be a favorite target market for designations. Having received 12,744 designations in 2007 (+19.8%), the EC has moved from the 6th to the 5th position in the ranking of most designated members of the Madrid Union; the majority of these designations, i.e., 7,529 (59%), were made in applications or subsequent designations originating in an EC member state. Other countries which moved up in the ranking of most designated countries compared to 2006 are USA (from 4th to 3rd position), the Ukraine (from 9th to 8th place), Turkey (from 10th to 9th place), Croatia (from 18th to 13th place) and Singapore (from 21st to 14th place)".

"Henkel from Germany is holder of the largest number of international trademark registrations under the Madrid system: 2,567. The top twenty holders, by the end of 2007, were: Henkel (Germany), Janssen Pharmaceutica (Belgium), Novartis (Switzerland), L’Oréal (France), Unilever (Netherlands), Nestlé (Switzerland), Sanofi-Aventis (France), Siemens (Germany), BASF (Germany), ITM Entreprises (France), Bayer (Germany), Biofarma (France), Richter Gedeon (Hungary), Lidl (Germany), Kraft Foods (Switzerland), Philips (Netherlands), Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany), Syngenta (Switzerland), Ecolab (Germany), Merck (Germany).

With 278 international trademark applications, Richter Gedeon from Hungary was the largest filer in 2007. The top twenty filers in 2007 were: Richter Gedeon (Hungary), Novartis (Switzerland), Henkel (Germany), Lidl (Germany), Toyo Boseki (Japan), Glaxo (UK), Biofarma (France), Janssen Pharmaceutica (Belgium), Nestlé (Switzerland), Brillux (Germany), L’Oréal (France), Zhejiang Elegant Prosper Garment (China), Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany), BMW (Germany), Plus (Germany), Siemens (Germany), Beiersdorf (Germany), Krka (Slovenia), Sanofi-Aventis (France), Hofer (Austria)".