Trademark protection was territorial and, currently, a New Zealand trademark application gave a trademark owner rights only in New Zealand.
For a business that traded in other countries, trademark registrations must be made in each country or region where the protection was sought, Ms Peart, a partner in Marks & Worth, said.
Commerce Minister Craig Foss announced yesterday the Cabinet had agreed regulations for the Madrid Protocol would be drafted and were expected to be in force by the end of the year.
"The Madrid Protocol will make it much easier for Kiwi business owners to register their trademarks in multiple countries," he said.
Ms Peart said implementing New Zealand's membership of the Madrid Protocol would enable trademark applicants to nominate the countries in which they sought registration.
That would streamline the application process and avoid the need to use agents in a number of different countries.
That would apply only to countries that were members of the Madrid Protocol but, currently, 86 countries had adopted it.
"There are some disadvantages to an international registration. If the registration in the 'home' country is attacked and becomes invalid, that will invalidate the registration in other countries and it may be costly to transform those applications to national applications in the individual countries."
It might also open up applications from other member countries that nominated New Zealand as one of their countries of registration and registered for themselves overseas trademarks that might be being used by New Zealand businesses but had not been registered by those businesses, she said.
"This can be avoided by businesses who currently trade using brand names which are unregistered to seek advice regarding registration of their mark in New Zealand before the international marks become available."
However, as well as being more cost-effective at the application stage, it would also be more cost-effective maintaining the trademarks, as the international registration was administered by WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Office), Ms Peart said.
It was possible to add further countries to the international registration as trading activities of the applicant developed.
Like a New Zealand registration, an international registration lasted for 10 years and was renewable for subsequent periods of 10 years, she said.
