On 8 October 2026, the Madrid Protocol entered into force for Saudi Arabia. The Government deposited its instrument of accession with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on 8 July 2026, according to WIPO’s Madrid notification No. 243, and the treaty took effect three months later. Saudi Arabia brings the Madrid Union to 117 members, which WIPO says cover 133 countries. Brand owners can now reach the Saudi market through the same international registration they use elsewhere.
What changed on 8 October 2026?
Saudi Arabia can now be designated in international trademark applications and added to existing international registrations. A holder who already has an international registration can expand protection to Saudi Arabia with a subsequent designation, which takes effect from the date it is recorded in the International Register (Article 3ter(2) of the Protocol). Article 14(5) lets a joining country block extensions of registrations made before it joined. WIPO Information Notice No. 35/2026 lists the declarations Saudi Arabia made, and that one is not among them, so older registrations can be extended too.
The route also works the other way. WIPO’s announcement notes that brand owners in Saudi Arabia can now seek protection in any Madrid member with one application, in one language and one currency. Five of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states are now in the system. Kuwait is the one missing from WIPO’s list of Protocol members.
What did Saudi Arabia declare when it joined?
Saudi Arabia joined with a longer refusal period and its own fee, and its law does not provide for dividing registrations. WIPO Information Notices No. 35/2026 and No. 37/2026 set out the terms:
- Refusal period: the Saudi office has 18 months, instead of the standard one year, to notify a provisional refusal. A refusal that results from an opposition can arrive after those 18 months.
- Individual fee: CHF 1,397 per class for an application or a subsequent designation, and CHF 1,719 per class for a collective or certification mark.
- Renewal: CHF 1,397 per class, or CHF 1,612 per class when payment arrives in the grace period.
- No division or merger: Saudi law does not provide for dividing a registration, so the Saudi office will not send WIPO requests to divide an international registration, or to merge the parts of a divided one.
The Saudi office, the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP), can still refuse protection. If it notifies no refusal within the time limit, or later withdraws one, Article 4(1)(a) of the Protocol gives the mark the same protection as if SAIP had registered it.
How much does it cost to designate Saudi Arabia?
In WIPO fees, a three-class application that designates only Saudi Arabia costs CHF 4,844 for a mark in black and white: the CHF 653 basic fee plus three individual fees of CHF 1,397. The basic fee is CHF 903 for a mark in colour, according to WIPO’s schedule of fees. Adding Saudi Arabia to an existing registration costs a CHF 300 basic fee plus the same CHF 1,397 per class.
The fees for a subsequent designation cover only the period up to the end of the registration’s current ten-year term, as the schedule of fees states, and renewal in Saudi Arabia then costs CHF 1,397 per class again. Check the renewal date before you file, and use WIPO’s fee calculator for the final figure.
Saudi Arabia’s fee is close to those of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, according to WIPO’s table of individual fees (last updated on 23 August 2026) and Notice No. 37/2026. The dates come from WIPO’s list of Protocol members.
| Gulf state | In the Madrid System since | Individual fee per class (CHF) |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 8 October 2026 | 1,397 |
| United Arab Emirates | 28 December 2021 | 1,420 |
| Bahrain | 15 December 2005 | 1,321 |
| Qatar | 3 August 2024 | 984 |
| Oman | 16 October 2007 | 417 |
| Kuwait | Not a member | Not applicable |
Does a Saudi trademark help with .sa domains?
Yes. The Saudi Domain Names Registration Regulations, version 5.0 of February 2024, limit registration to four groups, and one of them is the owner of a trademark or trade name registered in Saudi Arabia (rule 4-1-4). The other three are entities located in the Kingdom, Saudi nationals or Premium Residency holders, and entities registered or licensed by a Saudi authority. For .com.sa, rule 4-3-2 accepts locally registered trade names and trademarks.
The regulation predates the accession and does not mention international registrations. Ask your registrar which document SaudiNIC accepts for a Madrid designation before you rely on one. The domain must also have a relationship to the registrant (rule 6-4-1), and SaudiNIC no longer registers names itself: applications go through its licensed registrars. The Communications, Space and Technology Commission manages both .sa and .السعودية, according to IANA’s delegation records for the Latin-script and Arabic-script names.
What should brand owners do now?
- List the marks that need Saudi cover. For each international registration, compare a subsequent designation with a national filing. An international registration depends on the basic mark at home for its first five years (Article 6(3) of the Protocol), and the Saudi designation cannot be divided.
- Budget per class. At CHF 1,397 per class for both designation and renewal, Saudi Arabia costs more than most Madrid members. Limit the goods and services to what you sell there.
- Plan for 18 months. Treat the designation as pending until the refusal period has passed, and watch for oppositions, which can lead to a refusal after that.
- Check your names under .sa. Look up your brand under .sa, .com.sa and .السعودية with a whois lookup, and decide which names to register once your mark is protected in Saudi Arabia.
Domgate registers and manages country-code domains for brand owners, IP law firms and resellers. Its extension pages list .sa, .com.sa and .السعودية at €80 a year each, with a local presence service on request. Saudi Arabia is also one of the countries on Domgate’s trademark registration page.
