Madrid e-Filing Now Available in The Gambia
March 5, 2024
The Gambia is the latest Madrid System Member [PDF] to sign up to WIPO’s Madrid e-Filing service. This marks an important milestone in the history of the international trademark system’s online filing solution, the Gambia being the first Madrid System Member in the African region to use Madrid e-Filing.
And – in another landmark achievement – the first online application for an international trademark registration was filed directly through the website of the Registrar General’s Department in the Gambia using Madrid e-Filing just hours after launch of the service.
The transition to Madrid e-Filing is a win-win solution. For the Registrar General’s Department, back-end processes are more streamlined. This in turn ensures a faster turn-around for international trademark registration applicants in the Gambia wanting to secure overseas protection of their trademarks.
Twenty-three intellectual property (IP) Offices now offer Madrid e-Filing service.
Starting now...
If you are the holder of a national trademark registration in the Gambia, looking to extend your business overseas, you can now file your application for an international trademark registration directly online through the website of the Registrar General’s Department. Reminder: You must already have – or have applied for – a national trademark registration in the Gambia.
« We hope to set an example to other Madrid System Members in the region, encouraging them to sign up to Madrid e-Filing once they realize how time-saving and cost-effective it is. »
Abdoulie Colley, Registrar General’s Department
How to use Madrid e-Filing
- Go to the website of the Registrar General’s Department;
- Click on “Intellectual Property Registry” and scroll down to “How do I file an application for an international trademark registration;
- Click on “Madrid e-Filing”;
- Enter your WIPO Account username and password (Don’t have a WIPO Account? Create one!);
- Select “New application”;
- Select “GM - Gambia” from the drop-down list of Offices;
- Click on “Import basic application or registration”; and
- Follow the prompts to complete your application.
About Madrid e-Filing
Madrid e-Filing is a secure, digital, and streamlined environment – powered by WIPO – through which you can file – and IP Offices can process – applications for international trademark registrations. You can directly communicate with your Office of Origin through the platform, as well as receive – and respond to – any irregularity notices that we (WIPO) issue.
Why use Madrid e-Filing?
- Reduced irregularities – applications are pre-populated with key information taken directly from your national trademark.
- Direct compilation of goods and services, and compatibility checking of terms across 41 Madrid System Members.
- Streamlined certification process at home IP Offices (Office of Origin)
- Reduced processing time
- Access to the real-time status of applications anytime, anywhere.