Managing IP is part of the Delinian Group, Delinian Limited, 8 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 00954730
Copyright © Delinian Limited and its affiliated companies 2023

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Madrid’s electronic future

The Madrid System is going electronic, and you can help shape it. WIPO will demonstrate three new services at its booth in the Exhibition Hall

Today, WIPO staff—including Deputy Director General Wang Binying—will discuss recent developments in the Madrid System, including the latest and expected new members. They will be joined by representatives of the Australian, Chinese and EU offices who will provide additional information on how the System is working in practice, before taking questions from users.


The three offices presenting this year are among the biggest players in the Madrid System. In addition, OHIM and IP Australia are what Debbie Roenning of WIPO calls “model offices” from WIPO’s perspective as they communicate with the International Bureau entirely online. At present, only six of the 85 member states do so, although more than 70% of them communicate electronically for some transactions.


Neil Wilson, a director in WIPO’s brands and designs sector, says the Organization is encouraging greater use of electronic communication, but take up has been “piecemeal at best”. He adds: “We see progressive improvement, but obviously it is a question of priority and there are political and resource constraints.”


Wilson said that e-communication means faster reaction, more efficient processes and more predictable results for users. For example, sending images digitally rather than by fax leads to fewer errors and means data can be manipulated more easily.


But it is not just IP offices that WIPO wants to talk to electronically. It is also rolling out three new online services for trademark owners and applicants. These are: Madrid Portfolio Manager, which enables users to see the status of all the international marks in their portfolio, as well as manage payment and renewals online; Real Time Status, which allows anyone to check the status of Madrid registrations online; and Madrid Electronic Alerts, a watching service for international registrations, which sends an email alert whenever there is a development with a particular mark.


All three services are being beta-tested and will be demonstrated at WIPO’s booth in the Exhibition Hall during the Annual Meeting. They are expected to be fully operational in the second half of this year. Wilson told the INTA Daily News he is “very confident that the software works well” and invited all attendees to visit the booth to test all three systems and provide feedback on how they work and if they need to be improved. “A key priority for us is to improve e-commerce with holders of international registrations,” he said.

more from across site and ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Sarah Harris, partner at Williams & Connolly, reveals how her team won a copyright victory at SCOTUS and reflects on why the case matters
We provide a rundown of Managing IP’s news and analysis coverage from the week, and review what’s been happening elsewhere in IP
A Court of Appeal judge demanded respect for solicitor-judges after reprimanding a barrister for his 'unwise' words
Speeches at the UPC inauguration highlighted the gap between the unitary patent dream and the reality today
Sources with experience on both sides of the Atlantic believe hugely profitable US law firms may still take some convincing before agreeing to partner with a UK outfit
IP counsel urge the government to restrict safe harbour exceptions available to intermediaries and clear up doubts with the existing law
A New York lawyer could face sanctions after citing fake judgments generated by ChatGPT, but that doesn’t mean practitioners should shy away from AI
Klaus Grabinski told delegates at a UPC inauguration event that the proposed SEP regulation would limit access to justice
We provide a rundown of Managing IP’s news and analysis coverage from the week, and review what’s been happening elsewhere in IP
Sukanya Sarkar shares her thoughts on this year’s annual meeting in Singapore, where debates ranged from AI opportunities to improving law firm culture