The Trademark Law Treaty and the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks are administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization. Both treaties serve to simplify trademark application and registration procedures in their member countries. The Trademark Law Treaty entered into force in the United States in August 2000 and the Singapore Treaty in March 2009.
The Trademark Law Treaty simplifies and harmonizes trademark application and registration procedures by member states. It facilitates renewals, the recordation of assignments, name and address changes, and powers of attorney. It also requires members to register service marks and establishes a 10-year renewal period for trademarks.
The Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademark modernizes the international trademark system by expanding protectable subject matter to include nontraditional marks, such as sensory marks, color, position, and movement marks, among others. Members are permitted to require submissions to be filed electronically. Members must provide measures to reinstate an application or registration that was unintentionally abandoned. And, very importantly, the treaty establishes maximum requirements for recordal, amendment, or cancellation of recordal of a license, so as not to jeopardize the trademark application or registration. The Singapore Treaty does not replace the Trademark Law Treaty; countries can belong to both.