Madrid Protocol & international trademark filing in Malaysia.

Two routes, side by side.

Direct national filing. One application per country, filed by a local associate in that country's language and currency and examined under that country's law. It needs no Malaysian registration first. It works in every country, including Taiwan and Myanmar, which sit outside the Madrid system. Each country's trademark stands on its own, and it can be owned by a different company where your structure needs it.

Madrid Protocol. One international application filed through the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) to WIPO, in English, paid in Swiss francs, designating the member countries you choose. It needs a Malaysian application or registration as its basic trademark, and the goods list cannot be wider than that trademark. For its first five years the whole international registration depends on that Malaysian trademark: if the Malaysian trademark is refused, withdrawn or cancelled, the protection abroad falls with it, and rescuing it means converting to national applications country by country, at a cost. A refusal in any designated country still has to be answered through a local agent in that country.

Why Cathca usually files directly.

Most clients come to us before their Malaysian trademark is registered, and a Madrid filing cannot start without it. A direct filing carries no five-year dependency on the Malaysian trademark, reaches the countries Madrid does not, and puts a local associate in place from day one for any office action. Madrid remains available: we file it when you hold a settled Malaysian registration, want many member countries at once and prefer one renewal date.

Madrid Protocol fees, what to expect.

A Madrid filing has several fees: a handling fee from the Trademark Office, WIPO’s basic fee (higher for a trademark in colour), a fee for each country you designate (some countries set their own), and a fee for each class beyond three.

Direct filings are charged per country and class, covering the availability search, preparation, official fees and our associate’s work. Your quotation shows the full cost for your countries before anything is filed.

Typical processing times in the markets Malaysian businesses ask for most.

From our associate network, as at September 2026: Singapore four to six months, Philippines three to six, Taiwan six to eight, China eight to ten, Cambodia nine to twelve, Thailand ten to twelve, Indonesia twelve to eighteen, Vietnam sixteen to twenty. Registrations last ten years and are renewable.

Country rules worth knowing before you file.

• Thailand treats a trademark made only of ordinary Roman letters as non-distinctive; a distinctive device helps, and any evidence must be translated into Thai.
• Vietnam does not protect words in uncommon languages, such as Chinese or Japanese, on their own, and charges beyond six goods per class.
• The Philippines requires declarations of actual use in the third, fifth, tenth and fifteenth years, or the registration is removed.
• Cambodia requires an affidavit of use or non-use between the fifth and sixth year.
• China charges beyond ten goods per class.
• Myanmar and Taiwan are outside the Madrid Protocol; both are direct filings only.