Trademark Registration Treaty

Trademark Registration Treaty

Summary of Trademark Registration Treaty

An international agreement which provides for the protection of trademarks in adhering states by means of a single international filing. The Trademark Registration Treaty (TRT) is similar in many respects to the Madrid Agreement

Concerning The International Registration Of Marks (read this and related legal terms for further details), but differs from that agreement in several important respects. Under the TRT, no prior filing of the mark with a national trademark office is required; a single filing is made with the World Intellectual Property Organization (read this and related legal terms for further details) (WIPO). Filings must be in English or French. Also, cancellation of the basic national registration during the first five years does not negate the international registration.

Registration is effected for a period of ten years, and may be renewed for like periods in perpetuity. In addition, the TRT provides a moratorium of three years within which no contracting state may deny recognition of the mark on the grounds that it has not been in actual use in that country.

The treaty was concluded in 1973, and is administered by WIPO. The agreement is open to any state which adheres to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

On March 15, 1984, the following states were adherents to the TRT: Congo, Gabon, Togo, U.S.S.R., and Upper Volta.

(Main Author: William J. Miller)


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