Madrid Protocol and Hague Agreement in practice
A series of training sessions held by the ARISE+ IPR team to support post-accession of certain ASEAN countries to the Madrid Protocol and the Hague Agreement commenced on 14 August in Bangkok. Officials representing different IP offices will participate in Thailand (14-15 August), Lao PDR (20-21 August), Cambodia (23-24 August) and Indonesia (27-28 August) the Madrid Protocol trainings. All four countries became members of the Madrid Protocol between 2015-2017, with Cambodia also joining the Hague Agreement in 2017.
Tailored to the specific practices of each IP office, the training covers processing of international applications and registrations under the Madrid system, transformation, replacement, and other related transactions. Cambodian officials will also undergo practical training on industrial designs processing, filed under the Hague Agreement. The main objective of this activity is to support technical capacity building and operational efficiency of the IP offices.
“The accession of Thailand to the Madrid Protocol in 2017 represented an important step in making international trademark protection accessible to local businesses. The workshop today strengthens the capacity of IP officials to process international trademark requests,” said ARISE+ IPR Team Leader Ignacio de Medrano Caballero in his opening remarks to participants at the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) in Thailand on 14 August.
ARISE+ IPR Consultant Ernesto Rubio provided an update on the latest developments under the Madrid Protocol, as well as practical exercises, highlighting situations in which the DIP acts as an office of origin, office of the contracting party for a trademark owner, and office of a designated contracting party for the purposes of processing trademark requests. He fielded a number of queries, including in relation to the benefits of designating the EU as a single jurisdiction, reporting cancelled basic marks, and the treatment of colour trademark applications, among others.
DIP Head of Madrid Group Khachaphon Thiengtrakul explained the current procedures for international filings originating from Thailand, portrayed with detailed process mapping.
The Madrid and Hague systems offer simple, cost-effective, and efficient mechanisms to protect and manage trademarks and industrial designs, respectively, across multiple jurisdictions. It is essential for national IP offices to align successfully their procedure with the international systems to benefit their economies and stakeholders.