The protocol has been in force since 1996 and has 100 members,[5] making it more popular than the agreement, which has been in force for more than 110 years and has 55 members. [4] The main reason why the protocol is more popular than the agreement is that the protocol has introduced a number of changes to the Madrid system that have greatly improved its usefulness for trademark holders. In the run-up to the establishment of a multi-judicial (or at least pan-European) Community brand, the relevance of the Madrid system has been tested. Pressure on WIPO to maintain its relevance and strengthens the agreement by increasing the number of members, possibly through amendments. This culminated in the introduction of the Madrid Protocol, which stated that a Community trademark could be a “foundation registration” or “original registration”, on which an international registration could then be made. This mechanism is called “interconnection determination.” The protocol was signed as a result of significant WIPO lobbying efforts by many countries, including most of the current members of the Madrid Agreement, and by some European Union member countries, but which were not members of the Madrid Agreement. The protocol came into force on December 1, 1995 and came into force on April 1, 1996. Foreign registration continues in accordance with local regulations. Since the specific requirements of the U.S.

Patent and Trademark OFFICE (USPTO) exceed the requirements of most foreign countries, the best option may be when a company wants a more complete description of the products or services identified by its trademark as approved by U.S. regulations, direct submission to the destination country. If registration is only desired at a small number of foreign sites, direct submission may be less expensive. Countries will then have 18 months to review the application according to their own national standards. The application is deemed to have been filed in the country of origin from the date of filing and this application date reaches all extensions submitted simultaneously, regardless of the receipt of the application by the Member State or the start of the review procedure, as long as the package is complete at the time of submission. In order to facilitate the transmission of the application to WIPO, the rules proposed by the USPTO require that each application be submitted electronically. In order to obtain all the national rights available in other countries under the Madrid Protocol, an application for international registration is made in the country of origin. Therefore, any international registration submitted through the United States is subject to USPTO rules.