There are three main ways to register and protect intellectual property rights in other countries:
National Route
You can choose to protect your intellectual property in each individual country by directly registering with the respective national intellectual property offices. Your application may need to be translated into the official language of that country. You will have to pay national filing fees, and in the case of patents, you may need to appoint a representative or agent to ensure that your application complies with the requirements of that country. Some countries may also require you to use an intellectual property representative. Protecting your intellectual property through the national route can be costly and complex, especially when registering in multiple countries.
Regional Route
Some countries have established regional agreements to obtain intellectual property protection throughout an entire regional territory with just one protection request. Regional intellectual property offices include:
The European Patent Office (providing patent protection across the 27 member states of the European Patent Convention).
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for Community Trademarks and Community Designs (providing unified rights effective in all EU member states through a single procedure).
- The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) for English-speaking African countries (providing patent, utility model, trademark, and industrial design protection).
- The African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) for French and Portuguese-speaking African countries (providing patent, utility model, geographical indication, trademark, industrial design, and integrated circuit layout design protection).
- The Eurasian Patent Office (providing patent protection in countries of the Eurasian Patent Convention).
- The Benelux Office for Intellectual Property for Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (providing trademark and design protection).
- The Gulf Cooperation Council Patent Office (providing patent protection in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE).
International Route
International registration and filing systems managed by WIPO significantly simplify the procedures for registering and protecting intellectual property rights in multiple countries. Instead of filing multiple national applications in multiple languages, international registration and filing systems allow you to submit a single application in one language and pay a single filing fee. These international systems not only support the entire application process but also reduce the costs of international IP registration. There are three international IP protection mechanisms managed by WIPO for different types of intellectual property:
- The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) for international patent protection, which provides additional time for evaluating the commercial viability of your invention before incurring costs for national phase entry.
- The Madrid System for international trademark registration.
- The Hague System for international industrial design registration.
