Thailand accesses to the Madrid System

On November 7, 2017, the 1989 Madrid Protocol entered into force in Thailand. This constitutes a major event in the realm of intellectual property for owners of global trademark portfolios in Thailand and abroad.

Under this Protocol, once a trademark owner has applied for the registration of the trademark or obtained a basic trademark registration certificate in Thailand, this individual or company can also submit an international application at the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), signaling in which of the other 120 countries members of the Madrid System the trademark protection is requested. The DIP will then handover the application to WIPO who will perform basic compliance checks, collect the fees and carry out formal registrations and publications, and notify the trademark offices of the relevant countries, who will then have 12 or 18 months to either accept or reject the registration.

Reciprocally, any foreign trademark owner holding a basic registration certificate or application form from any of the other 120 countries member of the Madrid System can now ask for trademark protection in Thailand through a multinational trademark registration application.

[To be noted that Thailand made declarations on the following provisions of the Madrid Protocol: Art.5(2)(b); Art.5(2)(c); Art.8(7)(a); Rule 20bis(6)(b); Rule 27bis(6); Rule 27 ter(2)(b).]

For more information on the Madrid System, please visit WIPO’s dedicated webpage.