Madrid Protocol Guidelines explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Under the Madrid Protocol, one application filed through the trade mark office of your own country can ask for protection in many countries. For an Indian applicant, that office is the Trade Marks Registry, and its Guidelines for functioning under the Madrid Protocol (Trade Marks Registry, Mumbai, Version 1) explain how the Registry receives such an application. This article covers the opening of Part A: who may file, the Indian "basic" mark the application must rest on, and what the Registry does on receipt. If you plan to take a brand abroad, start with your trademark registration at home, because the international filing depends on it.
The Guidelines are the Registry's internal guidance. An applicant can file through India if it is an Indian national, is domiciled in India, or has a real and effective establishment in India, and holds an Indian trade mark application or registration that serves as the basic mark. The international mark must be the same mark, with goods and services no wider than the basic mark. It is filed electronically, with a handling fee in rupees, and the Registry allots an IAOI number.
The Guidelines are the Registry's internal guidance and do not have the force of law; the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 as now in force prevail. Check current practice on ipindia.gov.in before relying on any step below.
The Guidelines and the 2017 Rules
The Guidelines cite the Trade Marks Rules, 2002; the numbering changed in 2017, and the Madrid provisions are now rules 62 to 74. This article gives rule numbers only from the 2017 Rules. The Act's provision is section 36D, and the surrounding definitions and the Registry's role are in sections 36A to 36C. The rules on the filing route and the handling fee are in rules 65 to 67, and the definitions, language and electronic notices in rules 62 to 64.
How the system works, in the Guidelines' words and ours
The Introduction explains that an international application is presented to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization through the applicant's own office, which is called the office of origin. If it complies, the mark is recorded in the International Register and published in a gazette. Each country where protection is sought may then refuse protection within the time allowed, and if it does not, the mark is protected there as if registered by that country's office. For five years the international registration depends on the home mark; if the basic mark ceases to have effect in that time, the international protection falls with it. The registration lasts ten years and can be renewed.
The Guidelines say India has two roles. As office of origin it receives, verifies, certifies and transmits applications. As a designated country it records, examines and decides on international registrations that name India. Part A of the Guidelines deals with the first role; Part B with the second.
The terms the Guidelines define
The Guidelines open with a glossary. These are the terms a reader needs for the rest of the series.
| Term | Meaning in the Guidelines |
|---|---|
| Basic application | A pending Indian trade mark application used as the basis for an international application |
| Basic registration | A registered Indian trade mark used as that basis |
| International application | An application for international registration made under the Madrid Protocol |
| International Bureau | The International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization |
| International registration | A registration with the International Bureau under the Protocol |
| IAOI | The unique number the Registry allots to every international application originating from India |
| IRDI | The unique number the Registry allots to every international registration in which India is designated |
A "Contracting Party" is any state or organisation that belongs to the Protocol, and "notification" includes a communication to or from the International Bureau.
Who may file, and what it must rest on
The Guidelines give two tests. The applicant must meet one of three connections to India: Indian nationality, domicile in India, or a real and effective business or commercial establishment in India. And the applicant must hold a national application or registration with the Indian Registry; that mark is the basic mark. Two limits follow from it. The international application must carry the same mark as the basic mark, and the goods and services in it must be the same as, or narrower than, those of the basic mark. Finally, the application names the other member countries in which protection is wanted.
For a founder, the second test is the one that bites. A mark that has not yet been filed in India cannot be put on the international route. A filing for a wide range of goods abroad cannot go beyond what the Indian filing covers, so a narrow Indian specification narrows the international one. See our guide on how to file an international trademark under the Madrid Protocol for the planning side, and the specification and classes before settling the Indian filing.
How the Registry receives the application
The Guidelines describe a filing on the international application form, submitted online through the Registry's system. Under the 2017 Rules, the application and any communication about it are filed electronically through the Trade Marks International Application System (rule 65), in English (rule 63), and the Registry's notices and the answers to them are electronic (rule 64). The form in which the Registrar certifies the contents is MM2(E), as provided by the International Bureau (rule 66).
The Guidelines list the following as part of the filing, which we describe without repeating their technical figures:
- if an agent or attorney files, an authorisation in the form now prescribed is scanned and attached;
- if the United States is designated, a separate declaration of intention to use, on that country's form, is added;
- if the European Union is designated, a second language for that office is chosen;
- the mark is attached as a legible image in the format and size the system requires;
- for a plain word, letter or numeral mark, a declaration that the mark is to be treated as a mark in standard characters is selected and the text entered in the field for the verbal element;
- a digital signature certificate of the class the Registry recognises is needed;
- the handling fee is paid through the payment gateway.
On the fee, the Guidelines print an amount that belongs to the 2002 Rules and should not be used. Rule 67 says the handling fee is as specified in the First Schedule and is paid in Indian rupees, electronically, along with the application. The fees of the International Bureau and of the designated countries are separate; the Guidelines say they are paid in Swiss francs directly to the International Bureau, not to the Registry.
On receipt, the system generates an acknowledgement that carries the IAOI number. The Guidelines tell the applicant or agent to keep it and to quote the IAOI number in all later correspondence.
A worked example
Lumora Teas Pvt Ltd, a company with its place of business in Assam, has an Indian registration for its word mark in two classes and wants protection in two overseas markets. It files through the system, selects the standard-characters declaration, names its two target countries, attaches its authorisation for its agent, and pays the rupee handling fee. It receives an acknowledgement with an IAOI number and quotes it in every email. Had Lumora tried to add a class in which its Indian filing has no goods, the international list would be wider than the basic mark, and the Registry would raise a deficiency.
Checklist before you file
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is there an Indian application or registration in the same name as the applicant? | The basic mark must exist and belong to the same applicant |
| Is the mark identical, including any colour claim? | The international mark must match the basic mark |
| Is the list of goods and services no wider than the Indian one? | A wider list is a deficiency |
| Is the English text ready and the fee paid in rupees, electronically? | Rules 63, 65 and 67 |
| Is the IAOI acknowledgement saved? | Needed for every later communication |
Need help with an international application from India?
The Madrid route is quick only when the Indian filing is clean and the lists match. Our trademark registration team can check your Indian specification against the countries you want before an international application is filed.
Key takeaways
- An application through India needs an Indian national, a person domiciled in India or one with a real and effective establishment in India.
- It must rest on an Indian application or registration, which is the basic mark.
- The international mark must match the basic mark, and the goods and services must not be wider.
- Filing is electronic, in English, with a handling fee in rupees under the First Schedule.
- The Registry allots an IAOI number; keep it.
- Fees of the International Bureau and the designated countries go directly to them.
Read next
- Madrid Protocol Guidelines: Verification, Certification and Transmission of the International Application
- Madrid Protocol Guidelines: Irregularities Notified by WIPO and Ceasing of Effect of the Basic Mark
- How to File an International Trademark Application Under Madrid Protocol
- Section 36D: International Application Originating from India
Disclaimer: Based on the documents of the Trade Marks Registry named in the article (the draft Manual of Trade Marks Practice and Procedure published for comments on 10 March 2015, the Registry's standard operating procedures and its Guidelines for functioning under the Madrid Protocol), as consulted on 4 October 2026. A draft is not final; none of these documents has the force of law; the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and the Trade Marks Rules, 2017 as now in force prevail and current practice should be checked on ipindia.gov.in. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.