On November 19th, the Mexican Economy Minister lodged a formal request with the Director General of the World Organization for Intellectual Property, for Mexico to join the Madrid Protocol for the international registration of marks, taking the total of member states to eighty-nine.
For Mexico, Latin America’s second-largest economy and member of the G20, this membership is a continuation of the policies initiated by its government which aim to increase its commercial agreements by the diversification of its partners.
Mexico’s membership will take effect from February 19th 2013 and the designation of Mexico by international mark will thereafter be possible.
In 2012 the Philippines, Colombia and New Zealand had already joined the system of the international mark.
The Madrid System, regulated by two treaties, the Madrid Arrangement (1891) and the Madrid Protocol (1989), enables the mark holder to protect their mark in several countries by making a single demand for registration at their national office (such as the INPI in France) or their regional one (such as the OHMI). Administrated by the international bureau of the OMPI, this system has several advantages: registration in a single language and savings both in the initial and renewal stages.