The Trade Marks (International Registrations Designating the European Community etc) Regulations 2004, SI 2332, have been published & came into force on 1 October 2004. Following the EC's accession to the international system of trade marks (known as "the Madrid Protocol") this new statutory instrument enables the UK to apply to a new category of international trade marks - International trade marks designating the EC as a territory where protection is required (administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation, WIPO). There are already 3 other categories of trade marks in existence that are protected in the UK: 1) National trade marks that cover the UK registered under the Trade Marks Act 1994; 2) Community trade marks covering the whole of the EC; 3) International trade marks designating the UK as a territory where protection is required.
