International Trademark via the Madrid System (WIPO): Step by Step

If your trademark needs protection beyond Germany, you do not have to file it separately in every single country. WIPO's Madrid System (run by the World Intellectual Property Organization) bundles all of that into one application: one language, one set of fees, potential protection in over 130 countries (WIPO). That sounds like the ultimate all-in-one package, but it is not. There is one prerequisite many people miss, and a 5-year trap that can, in the worst case, bring down your international trademark everywhere at once. This guide walks you through the process, the real costs, and the points where things get expensive. Doing your homework first saves you most of that trouble: running a trademark search is the groundwork for everything that follows.

Key Takeaways

• One application through the Madrid System protects your mark in over 130 countries, administered by WIPO (WIPO).
• You need a base mark first: a national trademark (DPMA) or an EU trademark (EUIPO). The application runs through that office of origin, not directly through WIPO.
• According to WIPO's schedule of fees, the basic fee starts at 653 Swiss francs (black and white) for ten years, plus country and class fees.
• For five years, the international trademark hangs on the base mark (Art. 6 Madrid Protocol). If the base falls, the international registration falls everywhere (central attack).

What is the Madrid System?

The Madrid System is a procedure administered by WIPO that lets you protect your trademark in over 130 countries through a single international application (WIPO). Instead of many separate national filings, you submit one application, in one language, with one set of fees. The result is called an international registration, or IR for short.

What matters is what the system is not: it is not a "worldwide trademark" that automatically applies everywhere. The IR is more like a bundle that pulls national examinations together. Every country you designate still decides under its own law whether to grant protection. Madrid simplifies the administration, not the substantive hurdle.

The practical advantage shows up later. Changes such as a transfer of ownership, a new address, or a renewal are handled centrally through WIPO for all designated countries at once. Without Madrid, you would have to record each of those changes separately and for a fee in every single country.

Who is your office of origin: DPMA or EUIPO?

Before you file internationally, you need a base mark: a national trademark already filed or registered at the DPMA, or an EU trademark at the EUIPO (DPMA; Madrid Protocol). The international registration legally builds on this base mark. Without it, nothing moves at all, that is the ground rule of the entire system.

Your office of origin is determined by that base mark. If you rely on a German trademark, the DPMA is your office of origin. If you rely on an EU trademark, it is the EUIPO. The international application (WIPO form MM2) always runs through this office, never directly through WIPO in Geneva.

The office of origin plays a clear role here. It confirms that your international application matches the base mark, meaning the same sign, the same owner, and goods and services within the scope of the base. Then it forwards the application to WIPO. This is exactly why the base mark has to be clean and hard to attack before you roll it out internationally. A thorough EUIPO trademark search up front is not a nice-to-have here, it is protection against an expensive domino effect.

What does an international trademark application cost?

According to WIPO's schedule of fees, the basic fee is 653 Swiss francs for a black-and-white mark and 903 Swiss francs for one in color, each for ten years of protection (WIPO). On top of that come class and country fees, plus a transmittal fee from your office of origin. So the total depends heavily on how many countries and classes you designate.

WIPO applies simple rules to the add-on items. For every class beyond three, there is a supplementary fee of 100 Swiss francs. For each designated member, you pay either a standard fee of 100 Swiss francs or an individual country fee that varies widely from country to country. That is precisely why a flat total figure is impossible.

Your best move is to run your specific combination through WIPO's official fee calculator rather than relying on example numbers. On top of these international fees comes the transmittal fee from your office of origin, which you have to keep an eye on:

Item	Amount	Note
WIPO basic fee, black and white	653 Swiss francs	ten-year term
WIPO basic fee, in color	903 Swiss francs	ten-year term
Supplementary fee per class from the fourth	100 Swiss francs	beyond three classes
Per designated member	100 Swiss francs or individual country fee	varies widely, use the WIPO fee calculator
DPMA transmittal	180 euros	pay within one month, otherwise the application is deemed withdrawn
EUIPO handling	300 euros	if the EUIPO is the office of origin

One detail is easy to overlook at the DPMA. The transmittal fee of 180 euros (fee number 334 100) is due within one month. Pay late and your international application is deemed withdrawn, and the whole process starts over. You should double-check the EUIPO handling fee of 300 euros and the exact WIPO amounts directly with the relevant office before filing, because fees change.

The 5-year dependency: central attack

This is the fact that decides between success and total loss: your international registration depends on the base mark for five years from the IR date (Art. 6 Madrid Protocol). If the base mark falls away in that time, the office of origin notifies WIPO, which cancels the IR to the corresponding extent in all designated countries (Art. 6(4)). Practitioners call this a central attack.

In concrete terms: if your German or European base mark is refused, withdrawn, cancelled, or lapses within the first five years, it drags your international trademark down with it. And not just in one country, but everywhere you applied for protection. A single successful attack on the base hits your entire portfolio at once.

There is a lifeline, but it comes with a hard deadline. If the IR is cancelled through a central attack, you can convert it into individual national or regional applications while keeping the original IR date (Art. 9quinquies). You must request this transformation within three months of the IR being cancelled, however, otherwise the priority date is lost as well.

The practical takeaway is uncomfortable but clear. Because everything hangs on the base mark for five years, the up-front search is not a formality, it is the actual risk safeguard. A shaky base that a third party successfully challenges wipes out the entire international investment. Cut corners here and you risk the most.

How long does it take?

The procedure runs in clearly separated stages, and your filing date is preserved if WIPO receives the application from the office of origin within two months of the national filing date (Madrid Protocol). If the forwarding is delayed, that can prove costly for your priority. Once it arrives, WIPO examines the formalities of your application.

If WIPO finds formal deficiencies, it issues an irregularity notice, and you usually have three months to fix it. If the formalities are in order, WIPO enters the mark in the international register and publishes it in the WIPO Gazette. Only then does the actual substantive examination begin in the individual countries.

Each designated member now examines under its own national law and must grant or refuse within twelve months, or eighteen months if the member has made the relevant declaration. If a member stays silent until the end of that deadline, protection there is generally treated as granted. That is the one point you have to internalize: Madrid does not guarantee an automatic yes, only a bundled, predictable procedure with clear deadlines.

How do I renew an international trademark?

The international registration lasts ten years and can be renewed centrally, directly with WIPO, for all designated countries at once, online via eMadrid (WIPO). That is the system's big everyday advantage: one renewal instead of many separate national deadlines. The principle mirrors national renewal, just bundled together.

The deadlines are generous but firm. You can request the renewal from six months before expiry, and after that you have a six-month grace period, usually against a surcharge. Renewing centrally saves you the hassle of tracking deadlines and fees in each country separately.

The mechanics of a renewal, the deadlines, grace period, and surcharges, work in principle just like they do for a national trademark. For the details at the DPMA and EUIPO level, see the overview on trademark renewal. The same ground rule applies to your international trademark: put the expiry date in your own calendar, and do not rely on a reminder alone.

Conclusion

The Madrid System saves you many separate filings, but it does not do your homework for you. You need a solid base mark at the DPMA or EUIPO first, the application runs through that office of origin, and the costs are made up of the WIPO basic fee (from 653 Swiss francs according to WIPO's schedule of fees), country and class fees, plus the office's transmittal fee. The real danger is the 5-year dependency: if your base mark falls in that time, the international trademark falls everywhere with it (Art. 6 Madrid Protocol). That is why the up-front search of the base mark is the single most important safeguard before you roll out internationally. If you want to start straight from the EU base, a EUIPO trademark search helps you lay a clean foundation. For disputed ownership, ongoing conflicts, or complex multi-country strategies, a specialized attorney belongs at the table. This article is practical know-how and does not replace legal advice.