Pakistan joins WIPO’s Madrid System
Pakistan has formally joined the Madrid System for international trademark registrations, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Pakistani ambassador Khalil-ur-Rahman Hashmi deposited the accession to join the Madrid System in a meeting with WIPO director general on February 24th.
Pakistan is the 108th member of the Madrid System, which allows trademark applicants in member states to protect their intellectual property in 124 countries.
The agreement will enter into force on May 24 2021, allowing Pakistani brand owners the ability to file a single international application to secure the protection.
“With its entry into the Madrid system, Pakistan has taken an important step in supporting its brand owners, entrepreneurs and enterprises as well as further strengthening its IP ecosystem,” said WIPO director general Daren Tang.
“For those interested in bringing their brands into the Pakistan market of over 200 million people, the Madrid System will make it easier for them to enter and scale into the market.”
The Madrid Protocol has recorded more than 1.5 million international trademark registrations since its inception in 1891. Whilst the system has been in place for more than 125 years, three-quarters of its member states have joined in the past three decades.
Trinidad and Tobago was the most recent country to join the Madrid System, signing on in October last year.
Pakistan United Nations ambassador Khalil-ur-Rahman Hashmi said: “Pakistan has international brands in several sectors, including fashion, hospitality management and foods, joining the Madrid Protocol allows them to expand their outreach.
“It is a win-win proposition. Asia is a fast growing region, and within that Pakistan’s economy is growing, so that gives an opportunity for foreign trademark holders to come into Pakistan to invest and take advantage of the opportunities that exist here.”
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