Filing internationally — PCT, Madrid and The Hague

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Three international filing systems let one application hold your place in many countries — the prerequisites, deadlines and traps of each.

Once a business starts selling abroad, the question "where do I register my trademark or patent" quickly becomes a money problem. Filing country by country means paying fees, hiring agents and tracking dossiers everywhere. Three systems below exist to collapse that into a single filing.

The foundation: Paris priority

Before the three systems, understand priority: file in Vietnam first, then within 12 months (patents) or 6 months (trademarks, designs) file elsewhere, and your date still counts from the original Vietnamese filing. This is the mechanism that stops others from stealing your priority date.

PCT — buying time for patents

The PCT (in force for Vietnam since 10 March 1993) grants no "international patent" — it only extends the time you have to decide where to go.

The route: file one international application through the IP Office (based on your Vietnamese application or claiming priority), pass the international search and publication, and you then have up to 30–31 months from the priority date to enter the national phase in each chosen country. The practical gain is roughly two extra years to validate markets before committing to each country's filing, translation and agent costs.

Madrid — one trademark application, many countries

The Madrid System (Protocol in force since 11 July 2006) lets you file one international application through the IP Office designating the countries you want.

The key prerequisite: you must already have a base trademark application or registration in Vietnam. The international application "stands on" that base registration. If the base registration is cancelled within its first five years, the international registration is affected too — the so-called "central attack".

The Hague — Madrid's equivalent for designs

The Hague Agreement (Geneva Act, in force since 30 December 2019) lets one international application register an industrial design across member states. The economics mirror Madrid, but Vietnam joined recently so few businesses use it yet.

Three costly mistakes

  1. Assuming one international application creates a global right. It does not. Each designated country still examines and grants (or refuses) separately under its own law. The international filing is only a centralised procedure.
  2. Missing deadlines. The PCT deadline (30–31 months) and Paris priority (12/6 months) are hard. Forgetting the national phase means losing your place in the designated countries.
  3. Filing Madrid without a base mark. No base application or registration in Vietnam, no Madrid filing.

Where to start

If you are newly selling on international marketplaces, a sensible order is: a domestic trademark first (to serve as the Madrid base), then consider Madrid for markets with real sales. For patents, consider the PCT as soon as you have a protectable technical solution, before any public disclosure. See which procedure to use.

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