International trade mark ownership


You can change the ownership of your international trade mark registration at any stage.

New owner

The new owner of the international registration must be eligible under the Madrid Protocol. This means they must live in a Protocol country, be a national of a Protocol country, or have a real and effective commercial or industrial establishment in a Protocol country. It does not need to be the same Protocol country that you meet the requirements in.

Can you assign the international registration and not the basic trade mark or vice versa?

Yes. The international registration and the basic trade mark can be independently owned. If  you are within the five-year dependency period and you assign your basic trade mark, you will need to ensure the new owner of the basic trade mark will maintain the registration so that there is no adverse impact on your international registration.

Partial change of ownership

You can have a change of ownership for some of your countries, and/or some of your goods and/or services. If this happens, the part of the international registration belonging to the new owners will be given a separate number (the international registration number with a letter at the end). The IB will notify both parties when renewal is due.

Recording a claim of interest for an international registration

Recording a claim of interest depends on the national legislation of each designated country. For International Registration Designating Australia (IRDAs), and international registrations protected in Australia, we allow claims of interest to be recorded.


Last Updated: 05/9/2011