WIPO’s international trademark system, the Madrid System, now has 115 members with the inclusion of Qatar. The government of the Arab country deposited its instrument of accession on May 3 and the protocol will enter into force on August 3.
Qatar thus joins Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates as one of the countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council, where trademark owners can use the Madrid Protocol to protect their distinctive signs.
From the entry into force of Qatar’s accession, registrants will be able to:
- When applying for a national registration through the competent institutions, it will be possible for them to use the Madrid System to also apply for trademark protection in up to 130 countries at the same time, through a single international application in one language (English, French or Spanish) and payment of a single set of fees.
- If they currently have a trademark registration in any other member state of the Madrid System, they will be able to apply for trademark protection in Qatar.
- Holders of international trademark registrations will have the possibility to extend their geographical scope and include Qatar in their scope of protection.
With this inclusion, the Madrid System now comprises 131 countries, reinforcing this protocol as a practical and effective solution for protecting trademarks worldwide.
Clauses of the instrument of accession
Qatar’s instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol includes a number of clauses and declarations to be taken into account:
- It extends the refusal period to 18 months and makes it possible to notify refusals based on opposition after the expiration of that period.
- It is indicated that Qatar wishes to receive an individual fee when it is designated in an international application, in a subsequent designation and in respect of the renewal of an international registration. The amounts of such fee will be reported in a separate information note.
- Notice is hereby given that the recording of licenses in the International Register will have no effect in Qatar.
- The Qatari office will not submit to WIPO requests for the division of registrations of a mark or requests for the merger of international registrations resulting from the division (the Qatari law does not provide for the merger of registrations of a trademark).
