[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book II)]
[September 5, 2000]
[Pages 1755-1756]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Senate Transmitting the Protocol to the Madrid Agreement 
on International Registration of Marks
September 5, 2000

To the Senate of the United States:
    I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to 
accession, the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the 
International Registration of Marks adopted at Madrid June 27, 1989, 
which entered into force December 1, 1995. Also transmitted for the 
information of the Senate are the report of the Department of State with 
respect to the Protocol and a February 2, 2000, letter from the Council 
of the European Union regarding voting within the Assembly established 
under the Protocol.
    The Protocol will offer several major advantages to U.S. trademark 
owners. First, registration of trademarks internationally will be 
possible without obtaining a local agent and without filing an 
application in each Contracting Party. If the United States accedes to 
the Protocol, the Protocol will provide a trademark registration filing 
system that will permit a U.S. trademark owner to file for registration 
in any number of Contracting Parties by filing a single standardized 
application in English, and with a single payment in dollars, at the 
United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The PTO will forward 
the application to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual 
Property Organization (respectively, the ``International Bureau'' and 
``WIPO''), which administers the Protocol. Second, under the Protocol, 
renewal of a trademark registration in each Contracting

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Party may be made by filing a single request with a single payment. 
These two advantages should make access to international protection of 
trademarks more readily available to both large and small U.S. 
businesses.
    Third, the Protocol will facilitate the recording internationally of 
a change of ownership of a mark with a single filing. United States 
businesses experience difficulties effecting valid assignments of their 
marks internationally due to burdensome administrative requirements for 
recordation of an assignment in many countries. These difficulties can 
hinder the normal transfer of business assets. The Protocol will permit 
the holder of an international registration to record the assignment of 
a trademark in all designated Contracting Parties upon the filing of a 
single request with the International Bureau, accompanied by a single 
payment. To carry out the provisions of the Protocol, identical 
implementing legislation, which is supported by my Administration, was 
passed by the House of Representatives and introduced in the Senate.
    Accession to the Protocol is in the best interests of the United 
States. Therefore, I recommend the Senate give early and favorable 
consideration to the Protocol and give its advice and consent to 
accession, subject to the declarations described in the accompanying 
report of the Department of State.

                                                      William J. Clinton

The White House,

September 5, 2000.