Under the Safeguard Clause the provisions of the Agreement prevail where, with regard to a given international application or registration, the country of origin and the designated country are parties to both the Madrid Protocol and the Madrid Agreement.
From September 1st, 2008, states bound by both treaties will benefit from the provisions of the Protocol in four cases: the required status of a trademark used as a basis for an international application, the determination of the country of origin, the Office to which subsequent designations and recordals of renunciations and cancellations may be presented, and the transformation of an international registration into a national one. However, the provisions of the Agreement will be maintained for the refusal period and the fees charged.
In our view, these amendments are costconscious and introduce some flexibility in the system.