Formally called the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, it has, since April 14, 1891, allowed nationals of the countries who are members of the Agreement to protect their trademarks, whether for goods or for services, in any or all of the other member countries.

Nearly 100 years later, on June 27, 1989, a related treaty was also adopted in Madrid. It is called the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks. It is usually referred to as "the Madrid Protocol" and it retains the same basic purposes of the Madrid Agreement, but allows applications to be filed in French or English, while improving on the basic features of the Madrid Agreement.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands has deposited with the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) its instrument of acceptance, in respect of the Netherlands Antilles, of the Madrid Protocol Concerning the International Registration of Marks. The Madrid Protocol entered into force in respect of the Netherlands Antilles on April 28th, 2003. Trademark owners are now able to seek trademark protection in any country that has adopted the Madrid Protocol by filing one trademark application with the Bureau for Intellectual Property of the Netherlands Antilles.

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Click here to download newsletter in PDF format.

Click here to download latest version of Acrobat Reader.