US Trademark Registration and Georgian Law
Federal trademark registration in the United States is a procedure of American law with rules of its own — a non-Georgian registration system. For a Georgian applicant, however, the legal side of this route is real and precisely citable: Article 39 of the Georgian Law on Trademarks opens the Madrid Protocol gateway through Sakpatenti, while Article 11 establishes the priority window that protects the sequence between the Georgian and the American filings. This page explains how these two Georgian norms operate against an American ambition.
The Madrid Gateway — Article 39
Under Article 39, the law applies to trademarks whose protection is claimed under the Madrid Protocol, and an application for international registration must, in accordance with the procedure established by the Protocol, be filed with Sakpatenti. The application must be accompanied by a translation of the classification-grouped list of goods into English. This is precisely the route by which an international application resting on a Georgian base extends to many jurisdictions — whether the United States can be designated is a question of membership in the Madrid system and must be checked against the current list of members in each case. The English goods list matters especially here: it defines the scope of protection in every designated country simultaneously.
The Priority Window — Article 11
Planning filings in two countries begins with the rules of priority. A mark's priority is established by the filing date of the application at Sakpatenti, provided the formal-requirements examination fee is paid within no later than 15 calendar days of filing. Under convention priority the applicant relies on the date of the first filing in a Paris Convention member state if no more than 6 months have passed before the Georgian application; exhibition priority works within the same period, from the first day of display at an official or officially recognized international exhibition. The two priorities do not extend each other's terms.
The formal demands are strict: an applicant wishing to benefit by priority must notify Sakpatenti within one month of the filing date and submit the confirming documents within 3 months; the fee is likewise paid within one month. Different goods may be given different priorities, and where the same priority is shared, preference goes to the mark whose use in Georgia began earlier. It is exactly this window that protects the applicant from the risk that, between the Georgian filing and the filing abroad, someone else overtakes the mark.
The National Base and the International Route
The Madrid route rests on the national base, and this is exactly why the quality of the Georgian application decides the international result. Before the international application goes toward other countries, the Georgian application — or the registration built on it — must be properly formed: the goods list must be drafted so that a precise English translation is possible, and the deadlines, from payment of the fee to the submission of priority documents, must be kept without breach. For the applicant this means that even in relation to the United States the first steps of the decision are taken in Georgia: the filing date at Sakpatenti and the priority flowing from it are the foundation of the entire international strategy. A mistake made at this stage — a missed fee or a wrongly drafted list — can no longer be corrected later. In practice the two routes are compared by cost, timing and scope of protection: the national base requires a separate procedure in each country, while the international route builds subsequent designations on one base application, and the choice between them is revisited at each expansion of the portfolio.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below we answer the questions most frequently raised about registering a mark in the United States.
Can one apply to the US directly?
US federal registration belongs to the American legal system; within the framework of the Georgian law the applicant's instrument is the Madrid Protocol — an international application beginning at Sakpatenti, with designation determined by the current membership.
What does convention priority do?
The first filing date works for 6 months: an application filed in another country within that period counts from the first date — your mark's Georgian date becomes the reference date.
When must the priority fees be paid?
The formal-examination fee within no later than 15 calendar days of filing; the priority claim fee within one month, with confirming documents submitted within 3 months.
Why does the English goods list matter?
Because the international application must carry the English translation of the classification-grouped list — and that list defines the scope of protection in every designated jurisdiction.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The route toward the United States begins at the Georgian base: the right goods list, the timely fee and the structuring of priority decide the whole strategy. The specialists at Legal.ge will help you plan the Madrid route, translate the goods list into English and observe the priority deadlines — on the basis of Articles 39 and 11 of the law. Contact us through the Legal.ge form.