by Quentin Morris

Created on: December 14, 2008

You're from the United States. You've developed your product, filed your trademark in the US and now you want to sell your product abroad. But what about that all important trademark? Unfortunately there is no way of issuing a worldwide trademark which will protect your product anywhere in the world. Instead, you must register your trademark in each country where you wish to sell your product, avoiding trademark piracy along the way. Welcome to the world of international trademark registering.

Various ways of registering

NAFTA: Luckily there are ways of approaching international trademark registering which can make your life a lot easier and hopefully save you time, money and heartache. NAFTA has made the US, Canada and Mexico one trade zone and so the first place to file a trademark registration is in these member states. This should be done when you file a trademark in the US since your product become immediately vulnerable in these countries once it is released in the US. In Canada you can file a Trademark application online through the CIPO (Canadian Intellectual Property Office's) website. In Mexico you will need to get your attorney to file the application.

The European Union is also a relatively simple place to file a trademark. Although you can apply for a separate trademark for each country if you wish to, it is perhaps cheaper, quicker and easier to apply for a community trademark'. This protects you in all EU member states and gives you the right to take action against anyone infringing your rights within the EU.

Finally, under the Madrid System, if you apply to register your trademark in the UK you can then apply for an international trademark. You have to apply to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and choose the countries you want to register in. Unfortunately this only includes those countries signed up to the Madrid Agreement or Madrid Protocol. The country has a certain length of time in which to reject your trademark and if they don't then the trademark is registered in that country. There are 84 members of the Madrid Protocol,[1] the application can be made online and a basic registration of your logo in all member states starts from $14000.

Registering your trademark abroad is a complex and costly process which it is best to leave to a professional. One small error could costs thousands of dollars to put right. To find a reliable and qualified attorney visit the website of the United States Patent and Trademark office[2] which

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