Glossary
French: marque internationale
An international trademark is a registration filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva under the Madrid System — the same system US applicants use through the USPTO as office of origin. WIPO acts as a single window, centralizing requests made in several countries at once and transmitting them to each national trademark office.
The international registration requires a prior basic mark on which it is founded — for a French company, typically a French trademark filed at the INPI; for a US company, a US application or registration. Protection is then requested country by country: each designation is analyzed under each national law as a separate national mark, and each designation is independent of the others. There is no unitary effect — in that respect the Madrid route is the opposite of the EU trademark, which the Madrid System can itself designate.
During the first five years following the international filing, the dependency principle applies: if the basic mark is cancelled during that period, the international registration ceases to exist. Attacking the basic mark within those five years to bring down the whole international registration is known as the central attack — a risk US in-house counsel will recognize from Madrid practice, and a reason to make sure the basic mark rests on a solid clearance search.
See also: priority right, trademark filing.