The Madrid Yearly Review 2021: International Registration of Marks was recently released by the World International Property Organization (WIPO). According to the report, in 2020, when the year was largely under the influence of COVID 19 that led to substantial global social and economic disruption, international trademark applications filed via WIPO's Madrid System dropped 0.6% from 64,168 in 2019 to an estimated 63,800, representing the first decrease in international trademark applications since 2009 during the global financial crisis.

 

In 2020, the top five origins of Madrid applications were the US (10,005 applications, down 0.8% year-on-year), Germany (7,334, down 4.7%), China (7,075, up 16.4%), France (3,716, down 16.3%), and the UK (3,679, up 5.1%). Among the top 10 origins, China was the only one to have recorded double-digit growth in 2020.

 

As has been the trend since 1985, goods class 9 (computers, electronics and software) continued to be the most specified class in the Madrid applications of year 2020, which amounted to 16,474, accounting for 10.6% of all classes specified in Madrid applications of the year; and goods class 10 (surgical, medical, dental and veterinary apparatus and instruments) saw the fast growth of 22.4% from 2019 among the classes specified in Madrid applications in 2020. As of 31 December 2020, the Madrid System, with the accession of Trinidad & Tobago to the Madrid Protocol, comprised 107 members.