In the latest expansion of the Madrid System, the United Arab Emirates will join the Madrid Protocol on December 28, 2021. The UAE is the third country in the Gulf Cooperation Council (along with Bahrain and Oman) to join the system. The Madrid Protocol, a multinational trademark registration system comprised of over 100 countries, provides filers with a cost-effective and simplified mechanism for registering trademarks in multiple countries through the single centralized filing with the World Intellectual Property Organization, a branch of the United Nations.

The addition of the UAE to Madrid presents a significant cost savings opportunity in one of the most expensive trademark jurisdictions in the world. The individual fee for a UAE Madrid filing has been set at 1,630 Swiss francs or around US$1,770 per class at today’s exchange rate (excluding the IR basic fee and certification fees), which is significantly more affordable than national filing in the UAE. In addition, using Madrid allows the filer to avoid the need to prepare and legalize Powers of Attorney, a process that for UAE can take months and cost thousands of additional dollars