On August 7, 2017, Thailand completed the deposit of its accession to the Madrid Protocol and became the 99th contracting party under this international treaty. Subsequently, the Madrid Protocol will come into force on November 7, 2017, enabling an applicant to seek trademark protection over 114 countries by filing a single international application and paying a single set of fees.

 The accession of Thailand includes 3 declarations under Articles 5(2)(b), (c) and 8(7)(a) of the Protocol and Rule 20bis(6)(b) of the Common Regulations. The accession includes the following conditions, the provisional refusal period is extended to 18 months, the application requires individual fees payment and recording of licenses in the International Register has no effect in Thailand.

 After the Madrid Protocol comes into effect, the applicant who is the Contracting Party of the Madrid Protocol will have another filing option under the Madrid Route which is internationally systematized. The filing process via the Madrid route would be easier and simpler than national route.

 The Madrid system helps both Thai and foreign applicants as the system itself provides cost and time saving options. As the applicant is required to file only one application with one set of fees, the management of cost will be more effective for the applicant. In the event that the applicant may wish to extend trademark protection to cover other states, subsequent designations can be made with the International Registration which saves time and cost since the applicant doesn’t need to start a new filing process.