The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) offers the online service: Madrid Goods & Services Manager (MGS Manager) to assist trademark applicants in completing the list of goods and services to be submitted when submitting an international application under the Madrid international trademark registration. MGS Manager is available on the WIPO Madrid - The International Trademark System website and provides access to the current edition of the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification).
This tool offers a number of invaluable features and content designed to assist users in compiling acceptable lists of goods and services in preparing their international applications. Thanks to the exclusive acceptance / rejection verification function, trademark owners can take a few simple steps to find out if their goods / services will be accepted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and about 37 Contracting Party offices.
The Russian interface of the new manual is also available on the WIPO website, which provides access to about 16,000 terms translated by the Federal Institute for Industrial Property of the Federal Office for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of the Russian Federation / ROSPATENT /. It is also possible to automatically translate from Russian into one of the working languages of the Madrid system a list of goods and services compiled by the trademark applicant.
The system of international trade mark registration is governed by two treaties: the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Protocol on the Madrid Agreement. The system is administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which maintains an international register and publishes international registrations in the WIPO International Trademark Bulletin. The purpose of the system is two-way. In the first place, it makes it easier to obtain trade mark protection. The registration of a trade mark in the International Register shall take effect in the Contracting Parties designated by the applicant in the same manner as if the application for registration had been filed directly with the offices of those Contracting Parties. Other Contracting Parties may be further specified after registration. Secondly, given that an international registration could correspond to multiple national registrations, the subsequent protection procedure has been facilitated. As a result, only one maintenance and renewal registration remains, and changes, such as a change of owner or a change of name or address of the holder, or a restriction of the list of goods and services, can be entered in the international register through a single formality. In addition, if the holder wishes to transfer the registration in respect of only a few designated Contracting Parties or in respect of certain goods or services or wishes to limit the list of goods and services in respect of only a few designated Contracting Parties, the system is flexible enough to allow.
Following the accession of Algeria to the Protocol to the Madrid Agreement on 31 October 2015, all applications for international registration shall be subject to the Protocol.
An application for the international registration of a trade mark under the Protocol may be filed both on the basis of an application for registration of the same trade mark filed with the Patent Office and on the basis of a trade mark registered with the Patent Office (MM2 form - in French or English).
International registration provides a number of advantages for the owner of a trademark. Following the registration of the trade mark or the filing of the application for registration with the Office of origin, he must lodge only one application in only one of the official languages and pay only one fee (instead of filing applications in each Office by trade marks of the Contracting Parties, in different languages, paying a different fee for each Office). Furthermore, it is not necessary for the owner to wait for the Office of each Contracting Party in which he has applied for protection to issue a positive decision on the registration of the mark: if the Office has not refused protection within the prescribed period, the mark shall be deemed has received protection in the territory of the Contracting Party concerned. One application for international registration can provide legal protection for a trademark in all member states of the Madrid Union. International registration is valid in those countries that are specifically listed in the application for international registration. The official languages of the Protocol are French and English, and from 1 April 2004 Spanish. The Patent Office does not work with applications filed in Spanish.
The international trademark registration forms are published on the website of the Patent Office. The form of the Patent Office in Bulgarian, which is a cover letter of the actual application for international registration, shall indicate the basic data of the national application or trademark registration. The WIPO Form in French or English is sent directly to the World Intellectual Property Organization's website, where it can be downloaded and completed. All data from the national application or registration shall be transferred in French or English translation on the form. It is not allowed to change the sign, as well as to add new goods and / or services. However, it is possible to limit the list of goods and / or services.
When filing an application for international registration of a trademark with the Patent Office, a state fee of BGN 150 (one hundred and fifty) shall be paid if the goods and / or services are grouped into up to three classes of the International Classification of Goods and Services for which trademarks are registered. 50 (fifty) levs are paid for each subsequent class. Fees for international registration shall be paid by the applicant to the WIPO International Bureau.
The applicant makes a calculation of the fees for the international registration of his trademark in advance. For this purpose, a Free Calculator is available on the WIPO website in Madrid - The International Trademark System.. The fee is calculated by choosing Bulgaria as the country of origin, the number of classes of goods and / or services contained in the application, indicating whether the mark is a color, collective, certificate or guarantee mark. The countries in which the applicant wishes to obtain protection are then selected. The calculator gives results for the fees to be paid in Swiss francs - the currency for the payment of international registration fees.
Basic fee for 10 years: when the trademark is black and white is 653 Swiss francs; when the trademark is colored - 903 Swiss francs, additional fee of 100 Swiss francs francs for each Member State indicated, unless the said Contracting Party is a Contracting Party for which an individual fee is to be paid under the Protocol; the amount of the individual fee shall be determined by each Contracting Party to the Protocol.