Monday, September 11, 2000

 

Volume 36, Issue 36; ISSN: 0511-4187

 

Message to the Senate transmitting the protocol to the Madrid agreement on

international registration of marks with documentations

William J Clinton

 

 

� September 5, 2000

 

 

� To the Senate of the United States:

 

 

� I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to

accession, the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning

the International Registration of Marks adopted at Madrid June 27,

1989, which entered into force December 1, 1995. Also transmitted

for the information of the Senate are the report of the Department

of State with respect to the Protocol and a February 2, 2000, letter

from the Council of the European Union regarding voting within the

Assembly established under the Protocol.

 

 

� The Protocol will offer several major advantages to U.S. trademark

owners. First, registration of trademarks internationally will be

possible without obtaining a local agent and without filing an

application in each Contracting Party. If the United States accedes

to the Protocol, the Protocol will provide a trademark registration

filing system that will permit a U.S. trademark owner to file for

registration in any number of Contracting Parties by filing a single

standardized application in English, and with a single payment in

dollars, at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The

PTO will forward the application to the International Bureau of the

World Intellectual Property Organization (respectively, the

"International Bureau" and "WIPO"), which administers the Protocol.

Second, under the Protocol, renewal of a trademark registration in

each Contracting Party may be made by filing a single request with a

single payment. These two advantages should make access to

international protection of trademarks more readily available to

both large and small U.S. businesses.

 

 

� Third, the Protocol will facilitate the recording internationally

of a change of ownership of a mark with a single filing. United

States businesses experience difficulties effecting valid

assignments of their marks internationally due to burdensome

administrative requirements for recordation of an assignment in many

countries. These difficulties can hinder the normal transfer of

business assets. The Protocol will permit the holder of an

international registration to record the assignment of a trademark

in all designated Contracting Parties upon the filing of a single

request with the International Bureau, accompanied by a single

payment. To carry out the provisions of the Protocol, identical

implementing legislation, which is supported by my Administration,

was passed by the House of Representatives and introduced in the

Senate.

 

 

� Accession to the Protocol is in the best interests of the United

States. Therefore, I recommend the Senate give early and favorable

consideration to the Protocol and give its advice and consent to

accession, subject to the declarations described in the accompanying

report of the Department of State.

 

 

� William J. Clinton

 

 

� The White House,

 

 

� September 5,2000.