JEROME GILSON ANNE GILSON LALONDE THE MADRID PROTOCOL: A SLUMBERING GIANT AWAKENS AT LAST Matthew Bender® Mealey Publications & Conferences Group The Madrid Protocol: A Slumbering Giant Awakens At Last by JEROME GILSON ANNE GILSON LALONDE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION? For questions about the Editorial Content appearing in this publication or reprint permission, please call: Edward Berger, J.D., at .............................................. 1-800-252-9257 Ext. 2510 Barbara L. Post, J.D. at .............................................. 1-800-252-9257 Ext. 2536 Kenneth Litt, J.D. at ................................................... 1-800-252-9257 Ext. 2046 Nellie Howard, J.D. at................................................ 1-800-252-9257 Ext. 2513 Deneil Targowski at ................................................... 1-800-252-9257 Ext. 2223 Outside the United States and Canada please call...................... (973) 820-2000 For assistance with replacement pages, shipments, billing or other customer service matters, please call: Customer Services Department at............................................. (800) 833-9844 Outside the United States and Canada, please call.................... (518) 487-3000 Fax number................................................................................ (518) 487-3584 For information on other Matthew Bender publications, please call Your account manager or.......................................................... (800) 223-1940 Outside the United States and Canada, please call.................... (518) 487-3000 Published 2003. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. LexisNexis, the knowledge burst logo, and Michie are trademarks of Reed Elsevier Properties mc, used under license. Matthew Bender is a registered trademark of Matthew Bender Properties Inc. Copyright © 2003 Matthew Bender & Company, Inc., a member of the LexisNexis Group. All Rights Reserved. No copyright is claimed in the text of statutes, regulations, and excerpts from court opinions quoted within this work. Permission to copy material exceeding fair use, 17 U.S.C. §107, may be licensed for a fee of $1 per page per copy from the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA. 01923, telephone (978) 750-8400. Editorial Offices 744 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102 (973) 820-2000 201 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94105-1831 (415) 908-3200 www.lexis.com (Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.) Pub. 726, Rel. 48A JEROME GILSON Jerome Gilson practices with the Chicago intellectual property firm of Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione and is co-author of the thirteen-volume treatise Trademark Protection and Practice. He graduated from Northwestern University School of Law, has specialized in trademark and unfair competition law for forty years, and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and eight United States Courts of Appeals. ANNE GILSON LALONDE Anne Gilson LaLonde is co-author of Trademark Protection and Practice. She graduated from the University of Michigan Law School after serving as Book Review Editor of the Michigan Law Review. She practiced at Sidley & Austin in Washington, D.C. in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group before her two-year clerkship for Chief Judge Norma Holloway Johnson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She is a member of the Illinois and District of Columbia bars and the bar of the United States Supreme Court. (Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.) iii Pub. 726, Rel. 48A (Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.) Pub. 726, Rel. 48A Table of Contents I Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 [a] – When Can Trademark Owners Take Advantage of United States Implementation? ............................................................................ 3 [b] – Why the Delay for United States Implementation? ........................ 4 [i] – State Department Objections ...................................................... 4 [ii] – The HAVANA CLUB Imbroglio ............................................... 5 [iii] – “Anonymous Republican Hold”................................................ 5 II The Madrid System .............................................................................. 6 [a] – The Madrid Agreement................................................................... 7 [b] – The Madrid Protocol....................................................................... 7 [c] – Differences Between the Agreement and the Protocol ................... 8 III Madrid Protocol Basics ........................................................................ 11 [a] – Who May File an International Application?.................................. 11 [b] – Filing the International Application: Basic Applications and Basic Registrations ........................................................................ 11 [c] – International Registration................................................................ 14 [d] – Priority ............................................................................................ 15 [e] – Designations.................................................................................... 16 [f] – Examination by the Office of a Designated Contracting Party ....... 17 [g] – Dependence on Basic Application or Basic Registration and “Central Attack” ............................................................................ 20 [h] – What Happens to an Existing National Registration?..................... 23 [i] – Fees.................................................................................................. 23 [j] – Searching ......................................................................................... 24 [k] – Post-Registration............................................................................. 25 [i] – Renewal.................................................................................... 25 [ii] – Subsequent Designations........................................................... 26 [iii] – Assignment............................................................................. 27 [iv] – Limitation, Renunciation or Cancellation................................... 27 [v] – Amendment.............................................................................. 28 [vi] – Licenses.................................................................................. 28 [vii] – Change of Name or Address of Holder or Its Representative ...... 29 IV Advantages and Disadvantages ........................................................... 29 V Conclusion ............................................................................................. 32 Appendix A – Provisions to Implement in the United States the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks........... 33 Appendix B – Official Form for Application for International Registration Governed Exclusively by the Madrid Protocol........................................................ 47 (Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.) v Pub. 726, Rel. 48A (Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.) Pub. 726, Rel. 48A THE MADRID PROTOCOL: A SLUMBERING GIANT AWAKENS AT LAST* I Introduction Yes, the Giant has finally stirred, stretched and put his enormous feet on the stone floor, beginning, slowly but determinedly, to wake up and move. No trumpets blaring, no town crier shouting, no villagers running in fear. The sounds of the day are muted. But there is a definite excitement in the air. The moment everyone has been waiting for is almost here, though the wait has been so long some take him not for the Madrid Protocol but for a huge, sleepy Rip van Winkle.1 The Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks – known more simply as the Madrid Protocol – is soon to be implemented in the United States.2 Without a doubt, this will be an event of stunning proportions in the trademark world. Why? When the United States becomes a Contracting Party, U.S. trademark owners with a mark registered in or an application pending with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) will be able to file not only a single application but one in a single language using a single currency. They can thereby obtain a single international registration with one renewal date. By doing so, U.S. mark owners will apply for protection * Copyright © 2003 Matthew Bender & Company, Inc., a member of the LexisNexis Group. 1 Because the USPTO had not issued its proposed rules and regulations as of this writing, the authors will explain the background and the general operation of the Protocol. Specific, detailed practice tips will have to wait until later. 2 The full text of the implementing legislation in the United States, not yet in force, appears as Appendix A to this pamphlet. For more on the effective date of the legislation, see I.a infra. The Madrid Protocol itself is reprinted in Gilson & LaLonde, 3 Trademark Protection and Practice Appendix 10C. For further reference, see also WIPO’s “Guide to the International Registration of Marks Under the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol” at www.wipo.int/madrid/en/index.html; “INTA Issue Brief