International IP Filing: The Madrid Protocol and the PCT

There is no such thing as a worldwide patent or an international trademark registration that binds every country. Intellectual property rights are national, granted country by country under each country's law. What the international treaty systems provide is administrative convenience: one filing, one language, one set of fees at the start, and a single point of contact for what would otherwise be dozens of parallel proceedings.

Two systems do most of the work. The Madrid Protocol, administered by WIPO, handles trademarks. The Patent Cooperation Treaty handles patents. They solve different problems — Madrid is mainly about ongoing administration, the PCT is mainly about buying time — and each has a structural catch that decides whether it is the right choice.

Start with priority, not with the treaty

Before choosing a system, fix the priority date. Under the Paris Convention, a first filing in one member country creates a priority right that later filings elsewhere can claim: 12 months for patents and utility models, 6 months for trademarks and industrial designs. Filings made within that window are treated as though made on the first filing date for novelty and priority purposes.

This matters most for patents, because most countries outside the United States apply an absolute novelty standard with no grace period. A public disclosure before the first filing can destroy foreign patent rights immediately, even where the U.S. one-year grace period would preserve domestic rights. The rule of thumb explained in our patent basics guide applies with extra force internationally: file before you disclose.

The Madrid System for trademarks

Madrid works through the applicant's home office. A U.S. applicant with a pending application or registration at the USPTO files an international application through that office, which certifies it and forwards it to WIPO. WIPO examines for formalities, records the international registration, and notifies each designated country's office.

Each designated office then examines the mark under its own national law and may issue a refusal within a set period — commonly 12 months, or 18 months for offices that have declared the longer term. A refusal must then be answered locally, usually through local counsel. Marks that are not refused become protected in that country as if registered nationally.

What Madrid does well

• One filing, one currency, one language to seek protection across many jurisdictions, described in detail on the WIPO Madrid System pages.
• Single renewal date. The international registration renews every ten years in one transaction, instead of tracking separate deadlines across a portfolio.
• Centralised changes. A change of owner name, address, or ownership is recorded once and flows to all designations.
• Subsequent designation. New countries can be added later as the business expands, without starting over.

The five-year dependency

Here is the catch. For five years from the date of the international registration, the international registration is dependent on the basic application or registration in the home office. If the base is refused, withdrawn, cancelled, or successfully opposed during that period, the international registration is cancelled to the same extent — in every designated country at once.

That is why the mechanism is called central attack: an opponent who defeats the home mark defeats the whole international portfolio without ever filing anything abroad. A partial remedy exists. Within three months of cancellation, the holder may transform the affected designations into national applications in each country, keeping the original date. Transformation preserves priority but eliminates the cost saving, because each national filing then proceeds separately with local fees and counsel.

A second Madrid limitation is the identification of goods and services. The international registration cannot be broader than the base mark. U.S. practice requires unusually specific descriptions, so U.S.-based holders often end up with narrower protection abroad than local applicants who filed directly with broad class headings. Applicants whose main markets are outside the U.S. sometimes file nationally in key countries for that reason alone.

The PCT for patents

The PCT covers 158 contracting states, according to WIPO's PCT pages as of mid-2026. One international application, filed in one language at a receiving office, has the effect of a national filing in every contracting state — provisionally. What happens next is a structured deferral.

1. Month 0 — priority filing. A first national application, often a U.S. provisional, sets the priority date.
2. By month 12 — file the PCT application. The international application claims priority from the first filing.
3. Around months 16–18 — international search report and written opinion. An International Searching Authority identifies relevant prior art and gives a non-binding opinion on novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability.
4. Month 18 — international publication. The application publishes, making the disclosure public and starting provisional rights in some jurisdictions.
5. Optional — international preliminary examination. The applicant may request a second, more interactive examination phase producing a preliminary report on patentability.
6. By month 30 — national phase entry. The applicant selects countries and regions, pays national fees, files translations, and appoints local agents. Some offices allow 31 months; the deadline is jurisdiction-specific.
7. After entry — national prosecution. Each office examines under its own law and decides whether to grant.

The strategic value is the 18 additional months between the Paris deadline and national phase entry. In that period the applicant learns what the search report says about patentability, sees whether the product finds a market, and often raises funding — all before committing to the largest cost in the process, which is translation and local prosecution across multiple jurisdictions.

What neither system covers

Copyright needs no international filing at all. Under the Berne Convention, protection arises automatically in member countries without formalities, so there is no international copyright registration to obtain — though U.S. registration still carries domestic litigation advantages, as our copyright protection guide explains.

Industrial designs have their own route, the Hague System, which offers a Madrid-like central filing for design rights in participating jurisdictions. Design terms and requirements vary considerably by country, so the comparison in our article on design patents and trade dress describes only the U.S. position.

Trade secrets are protected by national law and contract, not by any filing system. Cross-border programmes depend on confidentiality agreements, access controls, and employment terms in each jurisdiction — the practices set out in our trade secret protection guide.

Frequently asked questions

Does a PCT application ever become a patent by itself?

No. The PCT produces a search report, a written opinion, publication, and optionally a preliminary examination report — none of which grants anything. Patents issue only from national or regional offices after national phase entry. Applicants who never enter the national phase end up with a published disclosure and no rights, which is a costly way to give competitors information.

Is Madrid always cheaper than filing nationally?

Usually, but not always. Madrid is most economical when designating several countries and when no refusals arrive, because refusals require local counsel and erase much of the saving. For one or two target countries with a high refusal likelihood, direct national filings can cost less and give broader goods descriptions.

What happens if my U.S. trademark application is refused after I file through Madrid?

If the base application fails within the five-year dependency period, the international registration is cancelled to the same extent. You then have three months to transform the affected designations into national applications, retaining the original date. Transformation preserves rights but triggers separate national fees and local representation in each country.

Can I add countries to a PCT application later?

No. A PCT application automatically designates all contracting states at filing; you choose among them at national phase entry. What you cannot do is add a country after the 30-month deadline passes, and missed national phase deadlines are generally unrecoverable. Build the country list well before the deadline, not in the final weeks.

Do I need local attorneys in every country?

For the international phase of both systems, generally no. Once a designated office issues a refusal, or once the PCT national phase begins, most countries require a locally qualified representative. Budget for local counsel from the point of national engagement onward — it is typically the largest line item in an international programme.

Building a filing plan that matches the business

The common failure in international IP is filing everywhere by default and abandoning half of it when renewal invoices arrive. A better plan starts from the commercial map: where products are sold, where they are manufactured, where counterfeits are likely to originate, and where enforcement is realistic. Those four questions usually produce a shorter and better country list than a marketing forecast does.

From there the sequence is mechanical. Fix the priority date before any disclosure. Decide by month 12 whether a PCT route or direct national filings fit the budget. For trademarks, confirm the base mark is solid before designating through Madrid, and diarise the five-year dependency date. And review the portfolio annually against actual sales, pruning designations in markets the business never entered. For how these filings sit alongside domestic protection, see the intellectual property hub.

Sources & further reading

• WIPO — Madrid System
• WIPO — Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
• USPTO — Trademarks
• USPTO — Patents