Rules of Practice for Trademark-Related Filings Under the Madrid Protocol Implementation Act

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is adding new regulations to implement the Madrid Protocol Implementation Act of 2002 (MPIA), and is amending existing regulation both to implement the MPIA and to otherwise clarify and improve the procedures for processing trademark applications and conducting proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The MPIA provides that: The owner of a U.S. application or registration may seek protection of its mark in any of the other 58 countries party to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol) by submitting a single international application through the Office to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (IB); and the owner of an application or registration in a country party to the Madrid Protocol may obtain an international registration from the IB and request an extension of protection of its mark to the United States.