Lately, we are witnessing a growing interest of applicants from the Republic of Moldova in providing protection for trademarks in the markets of other countries. Thus, if in 2010 were filed 43 international applications, having MD as the country of origin, then only in the first half-year of 2015 were registered 50 applications. This demonstrates that domestic producers tend to promote their products on increasingly more markets.
Meanwhile, the geography of international trademark registration applications also reflects the export orientation of local producers. Ranking of countries most frequently designated for protection is formed of neighboring countries Ukraine and Romania, countries in the post-Soviet space: Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. A greater interest was noted from national applicants for China, designated in 2010 only in 2 applications, and in 2014 in 27, and for the United States of America, the country that was designated in 2014 in 23 applications (2010 – in 4 applications). At the same time, it was also noted an increase in the request for protection from the national applicants for the European space: Poland, Germany.
It is manifested a tendency of national applicants to also reach more exotic markets, being requested protection in Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, India, Kenya, Morocco, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Oman, San-Marino, Vietnam, and with the accession of the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) to the Madrid System, there also appeared interest for the countries of this organization (in the first half-year of 2015 OAPI being designated in 9 applications).
Among the most requested classes of goods and services to which are filed applications for registration on international route are: advertising, marketing (class 35); alcoholic beverages (class 33); Services for providing food and drink; temporary accommodation (class 43); pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations (class 05), etc.
The figures show that domestic manufacturers and service providers realize the importance of protecting trademarks not only nationally, but also internationally in order to develop a successful business.
Ensuring protection of trademarks is one of the mandatory steps that are supposed to be undertaken by any company that wants to promote a product or service differentiating it from those of its competitors by features such as: logo, name, colors, shape, etc. For domestic exporting enterprises, ensuring trademark protection must be done both for the Moldovan market and on markets of interest to business expansion. The Madrid System established on the basis of two international treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party (Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and Protocol Relating to this Agreement) offers an instrument effective, affordable and safe for protection of trademarks internationally. Applications for international registration of trademarks through the Madrid System are sent to the International Bureau of WIPO by AGEPI, making it possible to monitor the trends, economic interests and business development vectors of the Republic of Moldova abroad.