Madrid Protocol Concerning the International Registration of Marks
1. On May 3, 2024, the Government of Qatar 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 Protocol will enter into force with respect to Qatar on August 3, 2024.
2. 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 this time limit;
– the declaration referred to in Article 8(7)(a) of the Protocol, whereby Qatar 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 20bis(6)(b) of the Regulations under the Madrid Protocol, whereby the recording of licenses in the International Register shall have no effect in Qatar. Consequently, a license relating to a mark in an international registration designating Qatar shall, in order to have effect in that Contracting Party, be recorded in the national Register of the Office of Qatar. The formalities required for such recording must be completed directly with the Office of Qatar and according to the conditions laid down by the legislation of that Contracting Party;
– the notification under Rule 27bis(6) of the Regulations under the Madrid Protocol, whereby the Office of Qatar will not present to the International Bureau of WIPO requests for the division of an international registration in respect of Qatar because its law does not provide for the division of registrations of a mark; and,
– the notification under Rule 27ter(2)(b) of the Regulations under the Madrid Protocol, whereby the Office of Qatar will not present to the International Bureau of WIPO requests for the merger of international registrations resulting from division because the law of Qatar does not provide for the merger of registrations of a mark.
3. The amounts of the individual fee indicated by the Government of Qatar under Article 8(7)(a) of the Madrid Protocol will be the subject of a separate Information Notice.
4. With the accession of Qatar to the Madrid Protocol, the number of Contracting Parties of this treaty and members of the Madrid Union is now 115. A list of the members of the Madrid Union, with information on the dates on which they became party to the Protocol, is available on WIPO’s website, at the following address: www.wipo.int/madrid/en/members/.
