3 firms seek to list trademarks under Madrid Protocol

THREE companies in Mindanao have signified interest to apply for Madrid Protocol, a treaty that provides international registration of trademarks for export products.

Intellectual Property Field Operation Unit (IP-FOU) specialist Marie Lou Gabiana said one of the firms is from Davao City while the other two are from General Santos City.

Gabiana said these firms have either pending trademark applications or registered trademarks in the country, which is a fundamental requirement in applying for international trademarks for the protection of export products.

The Davao-based firm, Nader and Ebrahim S/O Hassan Philippines Inc., is an exporter of cavendish bananas that has four pending applications in the country.

Madrid Protocol provides protection on products not only within the Philippines but also in coutries where Filipino exporters ship out products to.

Madrid Protocol is composed of 85 countries. This provides firms an easy international trademark registration in countries where they export in a single cost-efficient application at any of IPO-offices in the country.

"By filing a single international application in one country, trademark holders obtain a single international registration which secures protection for their mark in several countries," Lawyer Jesus Antonio Ros, chief of the Madrid Protocol Unit Division, said earlier.

Madrid Protocol, however, is still on a pilot stage in the cities of Davao and Cebu. IP holders outside those cities who are planning to apply for Madrid Protocol can register their export products at the IPO main office in Taguig City.