China joined Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks in 1989 and 1995 respectively, becoming a member of the international trademark registration system, known as the Madrid system, which has provided an convenient, rapid and economical way of international trademark registration for Chinese enterprises in implementing “Going Global” and protecting their rights and interests in other countries.
Since China became party to the Madrid system, the number of Chinese enterprises using the system to apply for international trademark registration has been increasing annually. Especially after China entered the World Trade Organization, in order to help Chinese enterprises to carry out “Going Global” strategy to take part in international competition, the China Trademark Office (CTMO) under the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) has been working hard to promote the publicity of the Madrid system, which has enabled a great number of Chinese enterprises to know the advantages and benefit from it. Meanwhile, CTMO actively provide Chinese enterprises with instructions concerning international registration and protection of their rights and interests in foreign countries.
Use of the international trademark registration system reached a record level in 2004 with the receipt of 29,459 international trademark applications representing a 23.5% increase on figures for 2003. By the end of 2004, 138,280 people have obtained 424,000 registrations. Suppose every international registration apply for 12 countries in average, this number equals 5,000,000 national registration.
WIPO's statistics show that China has the biggest increase rate of the international trademark registration, with an increase of 1015 files, 115% more than that of 2003. According to the statement of Mr. Ernesto Rubio, WIPO Assistant Director General, China is the only developing country among the top ten biggest users.
Top Ten Countries with Most Applications in 2004
Ranking
Country
Applications
Percentage in Total Applications（%）
1
Germany
5,393
18.3
2
France
3,503
11.9
3
Italy
2,499
8.5
4
Benelux
2,482
8.4
5
Switzerland
2,133
7.2
6
U.S.A
1,734
5.9
7
Australia
1,178
4.0
8
China
1,015
3.4
9
U.K
917
3.1
10
Spain
867
2.9
Top Ten Countries with Highest Increase Rate in 2004
Ranking
Country
Increase Rate Compared with Last Year（%）
1
China
115
2
Australia
100.9
3
Korea
86.8
4
Bulgaria
82.5
5
Japan
75.6
6
Slovenia
64.8
7
Latvia
62.7
8
Hungary
47.4
9
Austria
36.8%
10
Turkey
36.4%
