REGULATIONS UNDER THE MADRID AGREEMENT 2

Chapter 1 General Provisions

 Rule 1 Abbreviated Expressions

For the purposes of these Regulations,

• (i) "Agreement" means the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks of April 14, 1891, as revised at Nice on June 15, 1957, and at Stockholm on July 14, 1967, and amended on October 2, 1979;
  
• (ii) "national Office" means the national Office of a contracting country competent to effect registrations of marks, or the common Office of several contracting countries referred to in Article 9quater(1)(a) of the Agreement;
  
• (iii) "International Bureau" means the International Bureau of the World International Property Organization (WIPO) and, for as long as it subsists, the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI);
  
• (iv) "application for international registration" means the application for international registration filed under the Agreement;
  
• (v) "request for the recording of a change" means the request for the recording of a change affecting an international registration;
  
• (vi) "applicant" means the natural person or legal entity in whose name the application for international registration is filed;
  
• (vii) "owner" means the natural person or legal entity whose name is entered in the International Register as the owner of the international registration;
  
• (viii) "legal entity" means a legal entity within the meaning of the law applicable to it; any group of natural persons or legal entities that are allowed by the national legislation under which the group is constituted to acquire rights and assume obligations, even though it is not a legal entity, shall also be treated as a legal entity;
  
• (ix) "international registration" means the registration of a mark effected under the Agreement;
  
• (x) "International Register" means the register, whatever its form may be, in which the entries provided for in these Regulations are made;
  
• (xi) "contracting country" means any country party to the Agreement;
  
• (xii) "country concerned" means any country to which the effects of an international registration or territorial extension subsequent to registration under Article 3ter of the Agreement extend;
  
• (xiii) "country of origin" means the country defined in Article 1(3) of the Agreement;
  
• (xiv) "country of the owner" means the contracting country in which the owner of an international registration has his industrial or commercial establishment or, failing that, his domicile or, failing that also, the contracting country of which he is a national;
  
• (xv) "International Classification of Figurative Elements" means the Classification introduced by the Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks of June 12, 1973;
  
• (xvi) "International Classification of Goods and Services" means the Classification established by the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks of June 15, 1957, as revised at Stockholm on July 14, 1967, and at Geneva on May 13, 1977.
  

 Rule 2 Representation Before the International Bureau

• (1) (a) A representative shall be considered a duly appointed representative if his appointment complies with the requirements of paragraphs (b) to (h).
  (b) The applicant or the owner may appoint only one representative.
  (c) Where a partnership or firm composed of attorneys or patent or trademark agents has been indicated as representative, it shall be regarded as one representative.
  (d) Where several representatives have been appointed, the one mentioned first in the document appointing them shall be considered the only duly appointed representative.
  (e) The recording of a representative, of a change of representative or of any change concerning the representative shall, subject to paragraph (3), be requested of the International Bureau through the national Office of the country of origin or of the country of the owner.
  (f) Recording of a representative may be requested free of charge by completion of the appropriate section of the application form for international registration, the form for the recording of a change or correction to an international registration or the form for renewal of an international registration, provided that the renewal is effected through the national Office of the owner's country.
  (g) The recording of a change of representative or of any change concerning the representative may be requested without charge at the time of the recording of a change or correction affecting the international registration or the renewal of an international registration, provided that the renewal is effected through the national Office of the owner's country, by completion of the appropriate section of the form for the recording of a change, the form for recording of a correction or the renewal request form.
  (h) The recording of a representative, of a change of representative or of any change concerning the representative may also be requested at any time through the national Office of the owner's country, by means of the form provided for the purpose. Such recording shall be subject to payment of the fee specified in Rule 32(1)(e)(vi).
  (i) Where the request for the recording of a representative, of a change of representative or of any change concerning the representative does not meet the conditions specified in paragraphs (b) to (h), the International Bureau shall treat it as if it had not been made and shall inform accordingly the national Office through which it was filed or the person who filed it.
  
• (2) The International Bureau shall, subject to Rule 24, address to the duly authorized representative any invitation, notification or other communication intended for the applicant or owner under these Regulations; any invitation, notification or other communication so addressed to the duly authorized representative shall have the same effect as if it had been addressed to the applicant or owner. Any communication addressed to the International Bureau by the duly authorized representative shall have the same effect as if it originated with the applicant or owner.
  
• (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(e),
  (i) the appointment of the representative may be revoked without charge by means of a written communication made direct to the International Bureau by the owner and signed by him; the International Bureau shall inform the national Office of the owner's country, and also the representative whose mandate has been revoked, of such revocation;
  (ii) the appointment may be renounced without charge by means of a written communication made direct to the International Bureau and signed by the representative; the International Bureau shall inform the national Office of the owner's country, and the owner, of such renunciation.
  
• (4) The recording of a representative shall be regarded as constituting revocation of any other representative who may have been appointed previously.
  
• (5) The recording of a representative, of a change of representative or of a change concerning the representative shall be considered made on the date on which the International Bureau has in its possession a request conforming to these Regulations. Such recordings shall be neither notified to the Offices of the countries concerned nor published in the review Les Marques internationales.
  

 Rule 3 Applicant; Owner

• (1) Two or more natural persons or legal entities may be applicants for one and the same international registration if each is a national of a contracting country or meets the conditions specified in Article 2 of the Agreement, and provided that the country of origin is the same for all the applicants.
  
• (2) Two or more natural persons or legal entities may be owners of one and the same international registration if each is a national of a contracting country or meets the conditions specified in Article 2 of the Agreement.
  

 Rule 4 National Office

• (1) Applications for the international registration shall be addressed to the International Bureau through the national Office of the country of origin, and the request for the recording of a change through the national Office of the owner's country.
  
• (2) Any correspondence regarding the application or the request shall be addressed by the International Bureau to the national Office, which shall reply to such correspondence.
  
• (3) The required fees shall be payable directly by the parties concerned unless national regulations prescribe or permit such payment through the national Office; if the required fees are paid directly by the parties concerned, the International Bureau shall correspond directly with them in respect of the payment of such fees.
  
• (4) Where the signature of the national Office is required under these Regulations, a facsimile or official seal may replace such signature.
  
• (5) Any envelope containing more than one document shall include a checklist identifying each document.
  

 Rule 5 Means of Communicating with the International Bureau

• (1) All communications addressed to the International Bureau shall be effected in writing. Any action of the International Bureau shall be based exclusively on the written record at that Bureau.
  
• (2) The transmission of data to the International Bureau by telegraph, teleprinter or other comparable means of telecommunication shall be considered equivalent to the communication of those data in writing, provided that:
  (i) the data, when they reach the International Bureau, are set down legibly in the working language specified in Rule 7, and that
  (ii) when the data so transmitted are required to be presented on a form, the corresponding headings and the reference numbers appearing on that form are also transmitted.
  
• (3) Where these Regulations require a form or document to be signed, transmission of the prescribed data by one of the means referred to in paragraph (2) shall not be considered effective unless the International Bureau has received, before 20 days have expired following the date of receipt of the transmission, the form or document in question that confirms the original communication and bears the required signature. Thus confirmed, the original communication shall take effect on the date on which it was received by the International Bureau.
  

 Rule 6 Calculation of Time Limits

• (1) Any period expressed in years shall expire, in the relevant subsequent year, in the month having the same name and on the day having the same number as the month and the day of the event from which the period starts to run; if however the relevant month has no day with the same number, the period shall expire on the last day of that month.
  
• (2) Any period expressed in months shall expire in the relevant subsequent month on the day which has the same number as the day of the event from which the period starts to run; if however the relevant subsequent month has no day with the same number, the period shall expire on the last day of that month.
  
• (3) Any period expressed in days shall start on the day following that on which the relevant event occurred and shall expire at the end of the last day.
  
• (4) If a communication or payment is required to reach the International Bureau within a given period the last day of which falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or some other day on which the International Bureau is not open to receive such communications or payments, the period shall be extended until the next subsequent day on which none of the said circumstances obtains.
  
• (5) The International Bureau shall in all cases indicate the date of expiration of the time limits allowed.
  

 Rule 7 Working Language

• (1) For the purposes of the implementation of the Agreement, the working language of the International Bureau shall be French.
  
• (2) In particular, applications for international registration, requests for the recording of a change, correspondence regarding such applications and requests, refusals of protection, final decisions following refusals, notifications of invalidation and information provided by the International Bureau on the state of the International Register, particularly extracts from that Register, shall be in French.
  

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