How do you protect a U.S. trademark in other countries?

Touring artists, labels with listeners abroad and brands selling online all run into the same limit: a federal registration gives rights across the United States (15 U.S.C. 1057(c)), and other countries run their own trademark systems. This page explains the two ways to file abroad, how the Madrid Protocol works for owners of U.S. filings after the October 2026 change in how those applications are filed, and the five-year link between an international registration and its U.S. base. For the U.S. side of the process, see our main copyright and trademark law page. If you plan to license the brand or related content abroad, our page on whether a U.S. license covers other countries explains how territory works in the contract.

How a Madrid filing from the United States runs, step by step

1. Start from a U.S. base. You need a pending U.S. application or a U.S. registration, ideally one that has been cleared, because the international filing leans on it for five years. Our guide on how to register a trademark in eight steps covers the U.S. filing itself.
2. Open a WIPO Account. Madrid e-Filing requires one, and the USPTO suggests using the same email address for the account and the application so everything links to one workbench.
3. Prepare and pay. Match the application to the U.S. base, as explained below, list the member countries or regional offices you want to designate, and pay the fees to WIPO (TMEP 1901).
4. USPTO certification. The USPTO checks that the application matches the U.S. base and forwards it to WIPO. If WIPO receives it within two months of the USPTO's receipt, the international registration takes the USPTO receipt date (TMEP 1902.04). A refused certification can be challenged by petition, but the certification fee is not refunded (TMEP 1902.03, 1902.03(a)).
5. WIPO registers the mark. WIPO checks formalities, may send an irregularity notice, and then records the international registration (TMEP 1902.07).
6. Each country decides. Every designated office examines the mark under its own law and has at most 18 months to notify a refusal; if none is notified in time, the mark is protected there (TMEP 1901).

What are the two ways to protect a mark abroad?

The first is to file directly with the trademark office of each country or regional office you care about, under its own rules. The second is the Madrid Protocol, an international treaty that lets an owner file one application to seek registration in many countries at once. The USPTO describes it as a way to file for and manage protection in more than a hundred countries and regional intellectual property offices through a single application and payment process. The International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) runs the system and issues the international registration. The USPTO is clear that applying directly to individual countries remains an option.

Who can use the Madrid Protocol through the United States?

The owner of a pending U.S. application or a U.S. registration may file an international application based on it, if the owner is a U.S. national, is domiciled in the United States, or has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment here (15 U.S.C. 1141a). The international application has to line up with the U.S. base: the owner's name and entity must be identical, the mark must be the same, and the list of goods and services must be identical to or narrower than the U.S. filing (37 CFR 7.11). That is one more reason to get the U.S. description right at the start.

How are international applications filed now?

On October 1, 2026, international applications based on U.S. applications and registrations moved from the USPTO's own international filing form to WIPO's Madrid e-Filing system, which the USPTO now describes as the single place to file them. The USPTO still certifies each application before WIPO processes it, and applicants can answer USPTO questions and WIPO irregularity notices inside the same system. The fee amounts did not change, but the international application fee and the USPTO certification fee are now paid to WIPO in Swiss francs rather than to the USPTO in U.S. dollars. The USPTO's certification fee is $100 per class for an application based on one U.S. filing, or $150 per class when it is based on more than one. WIPO's international fees are calculated separately, and the USPTO points applicants to WIPO's fee calculator.

Does an international registration mean you are protected everywhere you designated?

No. Each designated office still decides whether to protect the mark in its territory, and it can issue what the Madrid system calls a provisional refusal within the Protocol's time limits. The U.S. side of the system shows how this works in practice: a request to extend an international registration to the United States is examined like any U.S. application, can be refused on the same grounds and can be opposed (15 U.S.C. 1141h). Owners based abroad who come into the United States this way face U.S. rules on representation, covered in whether a foreign company needs a U.S. trademark attorney.

Why does the U.S. filing still matter after the international registration issues?

For five years from the international registration date, the international registration depends on the U.S. application or registration it was based on. If the U.S. filing is restricted, abandoned or cancelled, or expires, during that period, or later because of an action that began within it, the USPTO must notify WIPO and the international registration is cancelled to the same extent (15 U.S.C. 1141c; TMEP 1902.09). This is often called central attack: a successful challenge to the U.S. base can cut back protection in every designated country at once.

There is a safety valve. If the international registration is cancelled for that reason, the holder can ask to transform it into national applications in the designated countries, which take the international registration date as their filing date. The request must be made within three months of the cancellation, directly with each country's office (TMEP 1902.10). The practical lessons are to clear the mark in the United States before relying on it abroad, and to keep the U.S. base in good standing, as explained in when to renew a federal trademark. If a U.S. challenger appears, read how trademark challenges work at the USPTO.

Can you add countries later?

Yes. A subsequent designation extends an existing international registration to more countries, so a mark can follow a tour, a distribution deal or a new online market (TMEP 1902.08). Renewals, ownership changes, name or address changes and limitations of goods are also handled through WIPO's system, which keeps an international portfolio in one place.

What changes the answer

• How strong the U.S. base is. A U.S. application abandoned after a refusal or opposition in the first five years cuts back the international registration with it, and so does a U.S. registration cancelled in that period, for example for nonuse, a risk covered in losing a trademark by not using it (15 U.S.C. 1141c).
• Proceedings still open at year five. If an appeal, opposition or cancellation against the U.S. base is pending when the five years end, the USPTO tells WIPO and later reports the outcome (TMEP 1902.09).
• Where the owner is based. A subsequent designation can be sent through the USPTO only if the holder is a U.S. national, is domiciled here or has a real business establishment here; otherwise it goes directly to WIPO (TMEP 1902.08).
• Why the international registration ended. Transformation into national applications is available only when WIPO cancels at the USPTO's request because the U.S. base failed, not when the holder cancels or fails to renew (TMEP 1902.10).
• Changes to the U.S. base. If the U.S. application or registration is divided or merged within five years, the USPTO must notify WIPO (TMEP 1902.12).

A worked example

Common mistakes

• Building on an uncleared U.S. application. A successful U.S. opposition, described in what happens in a TTAB opposition, can cancel protection in every designated country at once.
• Listing goods broader than the U.S. base. The international list must be identical to or narrower than the U.S. filing, or the USPTO will not certify it (37 CFR 7.11).
• Letting the U.S. base go abandoned. Once WIPO cancels or restricts an international registration, it cannot be reinstated, so a U.S. problem needs prompt action; see what to do after a missed office action deadline (TMEP 1902.09).
• Filing in a different owner name. If the U.S. application is in a founder's personal name and the international application names the company, the owners are not identical and the USPTO will not certify it (37 CFR 7.11).
• Sending the renewal to the USPTO. International registrations are renewed at WIPO; the USPTO will not process or forward a renewal (TMEP 1905; 37 CFR 7.41).

What to do this week

1. Pull the TSDR record of your U.S. application or registration and confirm the owner name, the mark and the goods and services.
2. List the countries where you sell, stream or tour, and mark which ones will need direct national filings instead of Madrid.
3. Create a WIPO Account using the email address you will use to file.
4. Draft the international goods list so it matches or narrows the U.S. list.
5. Calendar the end of the five-year dependency period alongside your U.S. maintenance dates.
6. If you are an Atlanta business or artist, our Atlanta intellectual property and entertainment lawyer page explains how to reach the office.

Frequently asked questions

Can I file under Madrid before my U.S. registration issues?

Yes. The owner of a pending U.S. application can base an international application on it (15 U.S.C. 1141a). The trade-off is the five-year dependency: if the pending application later fails, the international registration is cut back to match.

What happens after the five years?

The international registration stops depending on the U.S. base, except for a restriction or cancellation that results from an action begun before the five years ended (15 U.S.C. 1141c; TMEP 1902.09). Your U.S. registration still has its own maintenance deadlines.

Can I still use the USPTO's old international filing form?

Only to complete an application already filed in TEASi. New international applications and responses to WIPO irregularity notices go through Madrid e-Filing, and a subsequent designation can be filed directly with WIPO or through TEASi for a USPTO transmittal fee of $100.

Does an international trademark help my band on tour?

It can protect the name in the countries that grant protection, which matters for merchandise and promotion abroad. Our page on trademarking a band or artist name covers the U.S. filing that has to come first.

Does a trademark registration abroad collect my royalties there?

No. Trademark registration protects the name, while money earned when your recordings are played abroad flows through separate collection systems, explained in our guide to collecting performance royalties from other countries.

Zala IP Law assists businesses and individuals across the United States and internationally with trademark filings and strategy. If you are planning to sell, stream or perform outside the United States, request a consultation or call 404-313-1701 to talk through where to file.