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From 1 October 2004, the European Union will join the Madrid
Protocol for international registration of trade marks. This
means it will become possible to designate a European Community
Trade Mark (CTM) in an International trade mark application,
or to add the CTM to an existing International registration.
Previously, trade mark owners were forced to decide between
covering individual European countries within an application
for International Registration or filing for the collective
CTM registration. USA joined the Protocol in late 2003. The
accession of the EU to the Protocol now makes an International
Registration an attractive and cost-effective way for Australian
trade mark owners to protect their marks in these two important
markets.
HALFORD & CO.
June 2004
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