Protecting intellectual property assets, including trademarks,
is essential for businesses nationally and globally. The Madrid
Protocol may be a useful tool to extend trademark protection
globally, including in Canada.
The Madrid Protocol provides trademark owners the possibility of
filing a single application for international registration with the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and subsequently
designating other member countries where protection is sought. Each
member country applies its own laws to determine whether or not a
trademark will be protected in its jurisdiction. Canada joined the
Madrid Protocol on June 17, 2019. Since then, Madrid trademark
filings have been proven to be popular means to secure protection
in Canada: for example over 10,000 filings with WIPO have
designated Canada in 2019 alone and this number is expected to
grow.
