The 23rd Session of the Working Group on the Legal Development of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks was held in Geneva from 22 to 26 September 2025.

Members of the MARQUES International Trade Mark Law and Practice Team (Gavin Stenton, Paola Tessarolo, Jessica Le Gros, Tove Graulund, Robert Rauther, Manuela Bruscolini and Joseph Sarmiento) attended the session remotely and in-person.

They summarise the key decisions and discussions below.

Proposed introduction of a requirement for Contracting Parties to issue national or regional registration/renewal certificates

Recordings of all the Working Group sessions, and transcripts, are available on WIPO's website

The Working Group discussed this potentially significant topic in considerable detail, having regard to the differing approaches that are currently adopted by Contracting Parties, some of whom already observe this practice.

Moving forward, the International Bureau (IB) was tasked with preparing a new document refining the proposals in light of certain views and concerns expressed by several delegations, and conducting a survey among the Offices of Contracting Parties and users of the Madrid System on the need for and practical advantages of such certificates and to present a document with its findings.

Other proposed amendments to the Regulations

The introduction of a new official form in PDF format to cancel the recording of the appointment of a representative was agreed, noting that an online version of this form already exists.

The Regulations were updated to reflect the fact that the address of an opponent referenced in a notification of provisional refusal does not need to be indicated by the Offices of designated Contracting Parties.

The Working Group discussed the possible introduction of a new requirement whereby statements of grant of protection would indicate the date on which protection was granted as well as the date as from which the use requirement starts, aimed at addressing the divergent approaches contained in the laws of Contracting Parties.

A number of practical concerns were voiced by several delegations as well as some suggestions that the IB will now consider when preparing a new document.

The Regulations were also amended to allow for changes in the electronic mail address of holders and representatives to be recorded in the same way as a change of name or physical address.

Proposal by the delegation of the United Kingdom

The UK's proposal contained some very interesting ideas aimed primarily at enhancing user experience of the Madrid System, including the possible introduction of a centralised replacement procedure via the IB, partial renewal of IRs for certain goods/services (vacating the current need for partial renunciation prior to renewal) and the faster allocation of IR numbers, particularly in the context of adding subsequent designations to pending IR applications where an IR number is yet to be generated.

The Working Group agreed that discussions should continue on these topics and requested that the IB (in coordination with the UK delegation) produce a more detailed document that further elaborates on and discusses the legal, operational and other practical implications of these proposals.

The IB was also asked to include possible improvements to Madrid Monitor and processing timeliness as agenda items for the next Madrid Working Group Roundtable meeting.

Proposal by the delegation of Moldova

Discussions continued in respect of the Republic of Moldova’s proposed amendments to the Regulations that would allow Contracting Parties to certify international applications filed by two or more applicants who jointly own the basic application/registration, when only one of them has a qualifying connection with the Contracting Party of the Office of origin.

Following a lack of consensus, discussions on this proposal will continue in the 24^th Session, with an emphasis on keeping the Madrid System closed to members (rather than going down the PCT route).

Dependency

Having regard to the IB's survey on the incidence of bad faith; the use of central attack; and other grounds invoked to request the cancellation of an international registration due to the ceasing of effect of the basic mark, the Working Group continued to discuss the various proposals regarding the dependency of the IR on the basic mark, with renewed interest being expressed in support of reducing the period to three years.

In the absence of consensus, the Working Group agreed to continue discussions at the 24^th Session.

Possible introduction of new languages

The proposals to introduce new official languages into the system, including Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Portuguese and German, continued to be discussed.

The Working Group continued to highlight the need to promote multilingualism and inclusivity while balancing feasibility and costs.

Discussions will continue during the 24^th Working Group Session for which the IB will produce updated statistics, technical assessments and feasibility studies around IT, differentiated translation and the possible introduction of non-Latin characters and non-Arabic numerals.