Foreign Trade Marks
Trade Marks may be registered in virtually every industrialised country of the world. If one or more Trade Mark Applications are filed within six months of filing the UK or European Trade Mark Applications, these foreign Trade Marks can take the date of the earlier mark. Otherwise the foreign Trade Mark Applications are allocated the date of when they are filed.Registration procedures are generally similar, although in some countries an application may be advertised for opposition purposes before it is examined by the Trade Mark Office.
European Community Trade Mark Applications
Within Europe, the Community Trade Mark System provides an effective route for gaining protection in the 27 members of the European Community by the filing of one Application. The countries indicated below are the current members of the European Community:
Austria
Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark |
Estonia
Finland France Germany Germany Hungary |
Ireland
Italy Latvis Lithuania Luxembourg Malta |
Netherlands
Poland Portugal Romania Slovak Republic Slovenia |
Spain
Sweden United Kingdom |
International Trade Mark Applications
The UK is also party to the Madrid Protocol which provides for International registration of Trade Marks to cover the following countries (75 members as of 15th April 2008):
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Albania Antigua & Barbuda Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Belarus Belgium Bhutan Botswana Bulgaria China Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic PR Korea Denmark Estonia European Community Finland France Georgia Germany Greece |
Hungary Iceland Iran Ireland Italy Japan Kenya Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lesotho Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic) Madagascar Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Namibia Netherlands Norway Oman |
Poland Portugal Republic of Korea Republic of Moldova Romania Russian Federation San Marino Serbia Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Spain Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Turkey Turkmenistan Ukraine United Kingdom United States of America Uzbekistan Viet Nam Zambia |
Our Services
We are able to facilitate the filing, prosecution and maintenance of Trade Marks and Trade Mark Applications in most countries in the world as a result of our network of Foreign Associates. Our technical staff can advise you of the filing requirements for any country of interest.