On May 9, 1994 the U.S. State Department issued a statement that "it would not be in the best interests of the United States to proceed with accession" to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks "in its present form". The Government's reversal of its initial support for joining the Protocol was explained as being due to the extension of voting rights in the Madrid Union to intergovernmental organizations, most notably to the European Union. According to the announcement such extension of voting rights would constitute an unacceptable expansion of the role of intergovernmental organizations and would result in concurrent voting and double counting of the European Union vote and the votes of its member states. Apparently, the European Union has cited the voting rights accorded it in the Protocol as a precedent supporting its position on similar provisions in negotiations on other treaties and the United States is unwilling to allow this precedent to be established.

However, the State Department's announcement stressed that the United States is willing to work toward an acceptable modification of the Protocol's provisions relating to the voting rights of intergovernmental organizations, and we shall keep our clients advised of developments as we monitor the situation.

Editor's note: See the update on this discussion in our November 1994 Newsletter (N.S. 184) and our June 2000 Newsletter (N.S. 192).

June 1994 Index