Zimbabwe Joins the Madrid System

11 ديسمبر 2014

Zimbabwe joined the Madrid Protocol for the International Registration of Marks today, providing brand owners in Zimbabwe with potentially faster and cheaper access to international brand protection.

Zimbabwe became the 94th member of the Madrid System, following the deposit with the Director General of WIPO on December 11, 2014 of its instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks. The Protocol enters into force on March 11, 2015.

With this accession by Zimbabwe, the Madrid System provides brand owners the potential to protect their products through one international application covering more than 100 countries.

f_wipo_15971067046_768 — WIPO Director General Francis Gurry (right) receives Zimbabwe’s instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol from Mr. Taonga Mushayavanhu, Ambassador of Zimbabwe to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva (photo: WIPO).

The Madrid System makes it possible for an applicant to apply for a trademark in a large number of countries by filing a single international application at a national or regional IP office of a country/region that is party to the system. It simplifies the process of multinational trademark registration by reducing the requirement to file an application at the intellectual property office in each country in which protection is sought. The system also simplifies the subsequent management of the mark, since it is possible to record further changes or to renew the registration through a single procedural step.