On October 12, 2020, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago deposited with the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) its instrument of accession to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (“the Madrid Protocol”). The Madrid Protocol will enter into force with respect to Trinidad and Tobago on January 12, 2021.
The said instrument of accession was accompanied by:
- the declaration referred to in Article 5(2)(b) and (c) of the Madrid Protocol, whereby the time limit of one year to notify a provisional refusal of protection is replaced by 18 months, and a provisional refusal resulting from an opposition may be notified after the expiry of the 18-month time limit;
- the declaration referred to in Article 8(7)(a) of the Madrid Protocol, whereby Trinidad and Tobago wants to receive an individual fee when it is designated in an international application, in a designation subsequent to an international registration and in respect of the renewal of an international registration where it has been designated, instead of a share in the revenue produced by the supplementary and complementary fees;
- the notification under Rule 7(2) of the Regulations under the Madrid Protocol, whereby Trinidad and Tobago requires, when it is designated under the Madrid Protocol, a declaration of intention to use the trade mark. The footnote 2 in item 11 of the official form MM2 and item 4 of the official form MM4 will be modified to indicate that, by designating Trinidad and Tobago, the applicant or holder declares that he has the intention that the trade mark will be used by him or with his consent in Trinidad and Tobago in connection with the goods and services identified in the international application or subsequent designation concerned; and
- the notification under Rule 27ter(2)(b) of the Regulations under the Madrid Protocol, whereby the Office of Trinidad and Tobago will not present to the International Bureau of WIPO requests for the merger of international registrations resulting from division because the law of Trinidad and Tobago does not provide for the merger of registrations of a mark.
The amounts of the individual fee indicated by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago under Article 8(7)(a) of the Madrid Protocol will be the subject of a separate information notice.
With the accession of Trinidad and Tobago to the Madrid Protocol, the number of Contracting Parties of this treaty and members of the Madrid Union is now 107. A list of the members of the Madrid Union, with information on the dates on which they became party to the Madrid Protocol, is available on WIPO’s website, at the following address: www.wipo.int/madrid/en/members.
