Go to Qatar via Madrid!

On August 3, 2024, it will be possible to extend your trademark to Qatar via the Madrid System. Qatar joined this international treaty on May 3, 2024, becoming the 115th member of the Madrid System, which comprises 131 countries worldwide: from China to the USA, from France to Finland, from Benelux to Botswana, from Estonia to Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) – let’s brush up on our geography in the process.

Qatar is the 4th of the 6 member countries of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), along with Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, to join the Madrid System.

This system is an efficient, budget-optimized solution for protecting trademarks worldwide:

You extend your national trademark identically (or with fewer classes) in the countries that interest you via a single filing with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO), which forwards your trademark after a formal examination to the Offices of all the designated member countries.

These Offices examine your trademark according to the legislation of their country, and inform you of their decision via WIPO. Everything is centralized (and paid for in Swiss Francs) at WIPO, so you don’t have to go to each national Office (and multiply your currencies).

– Sylvie BOYER, Paralegal at Mark & Law

Sources and resources: how it works: https://www.wipo.int/web/madrid-system/

List of members: https://www.wipo.int/fr/web/madrid-system/members/index