Marques 2016: WIPO reports record year for Madrid applications

Last year was a record year for Madrid trademark applications at the World Intellectual Property Organization, according to the director of the legal division of the Madrid Registry.

Debbie Rønning revealed that the organisation received 50,000 international applications, a 10% increase over 2014.

She added that future accessions to the Madrid System will include Canada and countries from the ASEAN region, Latin America and Africa.

“Trinidad and Tobago will join early next year”, she said, adding that Mauritius also plans to join in early 2017.

Over the past year, the top countries of origin for the applications include the US, which sits at number one, Germany and France, placed second and third respectively, Rønning said.

Rønning then addressed new features that are due to be implemented in the Madrid System, including the Madrid Monitor, a search database which is the “new gateway to the Madrid System”.

She added that the system is still in the “beta testing phase”.

During her speech, Rønning addressed the recent Brexit vote and said “it’s business as usual until we hear otherwise”.

But, she warned that rights owners “are being very cautious” by “ticking the box of the UK and EU” in their applications.

The Marques 30th Annual Conference ends today.