USPTO enlightens Sri Lanka trademark examiners on trademark best practices & Madrid Protocol

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in collaboration with the National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka (NIPO), held two workshops in Colombo from 27-28 July.

The workshops informed trademark examiners from NIPO and lawyers working in the private sector of best practices on trademark issues and the pros and cons of the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol), an international treaty that allows a trademark owner to seek registration in any of the countries that have joined the Madrid Protocol by filing a single application called an International Application.

The objective of the workshops was to make Sri Lanka a more attractive country with which to conduct business by strengthening intellectual property rights compliance in Sri Lanka, the US Embassy said in a Facebook post.

The workshop participants discussed compliance with the Madrid Protocol requirements and issues pertaining to the accession to the Madrid Protocol.

In addition to building expertise in traditional trademarks, the participants examined trade dress marks, non-traditional marks and sound and scent marks.

Speakers included NIPO Director General Geethanjali Ranawaka as well as Attiya Malik, Nancy Omelko and Shilpi Jha of the USPTO.