Cost

International trademark filing fee

Filing cost

The Madrid Protocol / international trademark official filing cost is made up of:

• a basic cost ‐ approximately US$660 for one class PLUS CIPC's fee, which is expected to be a couple of thousand Rand; and
• a designation fee per country ‐ approximately US$220 for one class.

On average, each additional class costs approximately US$70 per designated country.

Tip: The cost to add another country designation after registration of the international trademark is similar to the cost to select the country upon filing the international trademark (together with an official basic fee of approximately US$310). Accordingly, should you only intend to commence trade in a select country in the medium to long term, we suggest excluding the select country from the list of designated countries on filing the international trademark, and adding the country designation when you are ready to do so.

Comments:

• OAPI, Belarus and the European Union are expensive countries to designate; and
• Bahrain and Uzbekistan are very expensive countries to designate.

Renewal cost

An international trademark must be renewed on the tenth anniversary of its filing date. Any subsequent designated countries (irrespective when they were added) also fall due for renewal on this date.

A 6‐month renewal grace period is available, on payment of a penalty.

To renew an international trademark (in all designated countries), a single payment is made to WIPO.

International trademark official renewal fees are similar to the fees originally charged to file the international trademark (i.e. approximately US$660 plus US$235 per country designated).

Renewals extend the international trademark term for a further 10 years.

Comments:

• OAPI, Belarus, China, the European Union, Israel, Kyrgystan, Oman, Switzerland, Thailand and Uzbekistan are expensive countries to renew; and
• Bahrain is a very expensive country to renew.