WIPO
What WIPO means, how it works, a worked example, the mistakes we see and the questions founders ask.
DefinitionWIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, is the United Nations agency in Geneva that runs the Madrid System for international trademarks, recording each registration and sending it to every country the applicant chooses.
WIPO administers the treaties that let one filing reach many countries: the Madrid System for trademarks, the Hague System for designs and the PCT for patents. For an Indian trademark owner it is the clearing house in the middle. IP India certifies your Madrid application and forwards it; WIPO examines it for formalities, records the international registration, publishes it in the WIPO Gazette and notifies each designated country; later it handles renewals, changes of owner and additional countries for all of them at once. You meet WIPO on its Madrid Monitor, where the status of every designation is public, and on its fee calculator, because WIPO fixes every fee in Swiss francs: the basic fee of CHF 653 (CHF 903 for a colour mark), each country's individual fee or the CHF 100 complementary fee, and the supplementary fee for classes beyond three. What it means for you: the rupee cost moves with the franc, WIPO's irregularity notices carry short deadlines, and a refusal from a country comes through WIPO but has to be answered in that country, usually through a local attorney.
How WIPO works
WIPO is the United Nations agency for intellectual property, headquartered in Geneva with 193 member states, and it administers the registration systems that let one filing reach many countries: the Madrid System for trademarks (117 members covering 133 countries as at October 2026), the Hague System for industrial designs and the Patent Cooperation Treaty for patents. It also runs the Nice Classification used for trademark classes, the Vienna Classification for figurative elements, and WIPO Lex, the database of IP laws and treaties.
For an Indian trademark owner the contact points are the Madrid System's tools: the fee calculator, which prices any combination of members and classes in Swiss francs; the Madrid Goods and Services Manager, which checks the specification against each member's practice; Madrid Monitor, which shows the status of every international registration and designation; and eMadrid, through which subsequent designations, renewals, changes of name or owner and limitations are filed directly with WIPO rather than through IP India. The WIPO Gazette of International Marks publishes each registration and every later event.
WIPO examines international applications for formalities only (classification, specification, fees and the match with the basic mark) and issues irregularity notices with a three-month deadline, which IP India or the applicant answers depending on the type. It does not examine the mark for distinctiveness or conflict; each designated office does that under its own law and notifies WIPO of a provisional refusal, which WIPO forwards to the holder. Payment is to WIPO's account in Swiss francs by card or bank transfer, and WIPO's fees change when it revises individual fee amounts for exchange rate movements, so the figure at filing is the binding one.
A Delhi consumer electronics brand checks WIPO's fee calculator in October 2026 for the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Australia in two classes, black and white: CHF 653 basic plus the four individual fees, a little over CHF 3,000 in all. After IP India forwards its MM2(E), WIPO issues an irregularity notice because the goods list uses a term the Manager does not accept; the brand's agent corrects it within the three-month deadline, WIPO registers the mark, and Madrid Monitor shows each office's response over the next eighteen months.
Mistakes we see with WIPO
- Expecting WIPO to assess whether the mark is registrable; it checks formalities, and the first substantive view comes from each country's office months later.
- Missing a WIPO irregularity notice, which is sent to the address on the form and carries a three-month deadline after which the application is abandoned.
- Budgeting in rupees from an old quote when WIPO's fees are fixed in Swiss francs and individual fees change several times a year.
- Filing a subsequent designation through IP India when the Madrid rules let it be filed directly with WIPO, saving weeks.
Last updated 19 October 2026. Checked against the MCA, GST, Income-tax and Trade Marks rules in force for October 2026.
Where you will meet this term
- Trademark Application AbroadIndian brands that sell, ship, license or raise money outside India and want the name protected where the customers are.from ₹9,999
- Trademark RegistrationFounders, brands and sellers who want their name and logo protected before someone else files it.from ₹1,999
- Patent ApplicationFounders and engineers with an invention or a process that is new, who want it protected before they show it to the market.from ₹14,999
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Questions founders ask about WIPO
Do I apply to WIPO directly for an international trademark?
No. The international application must go through the office of origin, which for an Indian applicant is IP India, on Form MM2(E) with the ₹5,000 handling fee. WIPO's own fees are then paid directly to WIPO. Later steps such as renewals and adding countries are filed with WIPO directly.
Does a WIPO international registration give me a worldwide trademark?
No. It is a bundle of national rights in the members you designate, each examined under its own law, and it covers only Madrid members. Countries outside the system, including Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Kuwait, need separate national filings.
How do I check the status of my international trademark?
On Madrid Monitor, WIPO's free public database, by international registration number, holder name or mark. It shows the registration, each designated office's provisional refusals or statements of grant, renewals and recorded changes, usually within days of the event.