International growth
European competence to support your expansion.
Expanding beyond France? International protection of your trademark is one of our long-standing fields. We have practised the international trademark for years and rely on a network of correspondents abroad: we know the specifics of the main countries and coordinate the whole from a single point of entry.
The international trademark (Madrid System)
The Madrid System lets you protect your trademark in many countries from a single application, filed with WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organization) and based on a base trademark — French or EU. You designate the countries you want among the system’s members (more than a hundred, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Canada), pay once, then manage a single title: extension to new countries, renewal and recordals through a single formality.
How the procedure works
We first check the base trademark, then file the international application through the office of origin (INPI or EUIPO), which forwards it to WIPO. WIPO examines the formalities and records the trademark on the International Register, before transmission to each designated national office. Each country then examines the application under its own law and has a deadline — generally twelve to eighteen months — to refuse protection on its territory. Allow several months, varying by country.
The country-specific watch points
Each country has its requirements: a declaration of intent to use in the United States, very precise goods specifications in China, a local representative elsewhere. For five years, the international trademark also remains dependent on the base trademark: if the latter falls, the designations fall with it — this is the “central attack”, a risk we anticipate. Our knowledge of these particulars and our network of correspondents head off refusals and unpleasant surprises.
Beyond the trademark, and beyond Madrid
Not all countries are members of the Madrid System: for those, we file through the national route via our local correspondents. We also extend your other rights — designs through the Hague System, patents through the European and international (PCT) routes — and secure the contracts tied to entering a market (distribution, licence, agency).