Back to (Inter)national trademarks

Do trademarks apply across countries?

Written by Jan Buza

Co-founder of Trama

No, trademarks are jurisdiction-specific and are only valid in the countries where they’re registered. In other words, a registration in the UK provides no protection in the EU, US, or any other country.

There are some multi-country registration systems, such as the EUIPO, which covers all 27 EU member states through a single registration. The Madrid System, administered by WIPO, allows a single international application to designate protection in multiple member countries simultaneously, though each country examines the application under its own rules.

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