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We are trusted by some of the world’s best known brands due to our expertise in trademarks and our leading Manual on Canadian Trademark Practice, published by Thomson Reuters, and relied upon by IP Professionals. We work with a combination of foreign in-house and outside counsel.

If you have designated Canada in your international application/registration, you will receive a courtesy letter from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) informing you that all future correspondence will be sent only to the applicant or appointed Canadian trademark agent. That is, CIPO is not required to send all correspondence to the Madrid representative.

We can assume carriage of the Protocol Application in Canada, forward the necessary correspondence from CIPO, calendar the deadlines and provide you a fixed fee quote, should a Provisional Refusal/examiner’s report be issued.

Canadian Businesses & Madrid

If your business focuses on several countries or is planning to enter new markets, it is important to determine whether your interests are sufficiently protected in those countries and regions.

On June 17, 2019, Canada’s changes to the Trademarks Act have come into force and Canada has joined the ‘Singapore Treaty’, the ‘Madrid Protocol’ and the ‘Nice Agreement’.

The Madrid System is a centrally-administered system for obtaining trademark protection in a variety of jurisdictions through a single, consolidated process. It makes it possible to request trademark protection in one or more member states of the Madrid System by filing one application at WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland.

Canadian businesses and innovators now have access to a modernized trademark regime that is aligned with other jurisdictions, thus lowering filing cost and increasing the ease of doing business internationally while protecting your IP assets.

The Madrid System covers 121 countries in total, including the EU member states and the three countries of the Benelux (Post-Brexit, the UK will no longer be covered when designating the EU). The ability to designate such a large number of countries and regions in an international trademark registration makes it an increasingly appealing option for businesses.

For advice on protecting your IP assets nationally and internationally, further information on IP protection, or our schedule of fees, please contact us.