IP Australia adopts Madrid Goods and Services List for trade marks from 26 March 2024
From , IP Australia has replaced its proprietary trade mark goods and services "picklist" with the international standard Madrid Goods and Services (MGS) list developed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
IP Australia has also launched an overhauled "semantic search" capability, which will present users with similar goods and services descriptors based on their search terms and sort results by "relevance" rather than numerical classification by default. The IP Australia Picklist-based goods and services search system retrieved only literal matches. The new User Interfaces retain the option to search for exact matches.
What is the MGS?
The MGS list is adopted by WIPO for international trade mark applications under the Madrid Protocol and by the national trade mark offices of several other jurisdictions as a standardised method to classify and specify the goods and services claimed in trade mark applications.
Benefits
The change should result in greater harmonisation and standardisation, and lead to reduced discrepancies and errors, for the classification and specification of goods and services across domestic and international trade mark filings.
For example: In the WIPO MGS system, some classification items are marked as "acceptable" or "not acceptable" by the Trade Mark Offices of various jurisdictions. This allows prospective applicants to have greater confidence that the selections from MGS items will meet the specificity and syntactical requirements of their target jurisdiction.
Further, the MGS provides a greater number of pre-defined specification options in each trade mark class. The MGS list is also updated to include novel goods and services as new technologies emerge (such as NFT-authenticated goods and virtual services). This affords applicants the flexibility to align their goods and services specification more closely with their business operations.
Further Information
- Aligning our trade mark classification standards with international best practice, IP Australia Media Release ()
- Adopting the Madrid Goods and Services list, IP Australia Media Release ()
- IP Australia Trade Mark Goods and Services Classification Search
- Madrid Goods and Services (MGS) Manager, World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
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