Saudi Arabia Joins the Madrid System: What It Means for Trademark Owners

Saudi Arabia has joined WIPO's Madrid System. From 8 October 2026, you can protect a brand in the country through a single international application, without a separate national filing through a mandatory local agent. For companies planning to enter the Saudi market or already operating there, this changes both the cost and the logic of registering a trademark.

Here is what happened, how the old route differs from the new one, and what to do right now while the transition is still underway.

What happened

On 8 July 2026, Saudi Arabia deposited its instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol. According to WIPO's announcement, the Protocol enters into force for the country on 8 October 2026 — from that date, Saudi Arabia can be designated in international applications.

The Madrid System lets you register a trademark in several countries through one application filed with your own national office, instead of filing separately in each country. It currently has 117 members covering 133 countries and more than 80% of global trade.

With Saudi Arabia on board, five of the six Gulf states are now inside the system: Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Only Kuwait remains outside. For any business building brand protection across the region, that simplifies the picture considerably — almost the entire Gulf is now reachable from a single point of entry.

What changes for a brand owner

Until now, protection in Saudi Arabia ran only through the national route: a filing with the local office, SAIP (Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property), through a mandatory registered agent inside the country. From 8 October, a second route opens — designating Saudi Arabia within an international application.

The change works both ways. A foreign company gets Saudi Arabia as a single line in an international application. A Saudi business gets access to 133 countries through one filing with its home office.

Why it matters now

Saudi Arabia is betting heavily on the games industry under its Vision 2030 strategy. The sovereign wealth fund PIF, through Savvy Games Group, invests in studios and esports, and Riyadh hosts the Esports World Cup. Developers, publishers, and tech companies are moving into this growing market, and as the flow of new entrants rises, so does the risk that someone else registers your product's name or image in the local register first.

In most jurisdictions, the trademark goes to whoever files first. A fast-growing market also attracts bad-faith applicants who register other people's brands under their own name ahead of the owner. The simplified Madrid route lowers the barrier to protection, so covering Saudi Arabia is now cheaper and faster than assembling a national filing through an agent.

What to do: before or after 8 October

Which route makes sense right now depends on how urgently you need protection.

If you need the mark in Saudi Arabia today, the national filing through SAIP and a local agent is the only route until 8 October. Waiting for the Madrid route to save money is worth it only when a few weeks make no difference.

If your market entry is still ahead, from 8 October you can add Saudi Arabia to an international application — either in a new application or as a subsequent designation to an international registration you already hold in other countries.

What decides it is urgency and the number of markets. If you need the mark in Saudi Arabia within weeks and it's the only country on your list, we wouldn't wait for 8 October: the national filing through SAIP works today, and a few weeks of priority on a fast-moving market are worth more than the fee savings. If market entry is still ahead and Saudi Arabia comes as part of a package with other countries, it makes more sense to assemble one international application after 8 October — cheaper, and with no separate agents in every jurisdiction. We also check whether you already hold an international registration: if so, Saudi Arabia is easier to add to it as a subsequent designation, without starting a new application from scratch. One thing to keep in mind: everything under Madrid hangs on your base application or registration at home — if it gets shaken within the first five years, the international protection sags with it.
— Futura Digital's assessment

What's still unknown: the fee amount

WIPO has already set out the key parameters of the new route in Information Notice No. 35/2026. Saudi Arabia declared an extended refusal period: the local office may issue a refusal within 18 months instead of the standard 12. The country will also charge an individual fee for being designated in an international application.

One figure remains unknown — the amount of that fee, which WIPO will publish in a separate notice. Until it is out, the exact cost of the Madrid route cannot be calculated, so budgets for the first weeks after 8 October stay approximate.

The only unknown right now is the amount of the individual fee. If protection can wait, we advise holding off until WIPO's separate notice with the figure: a couple of weeks rarely breaks anything, and you get to budget from real numbers. If you can't wait, filing in the first weeks is fine — with a budget buffer in case the fee turns out high, and with the national filing kept as a fallback route for this particular country. Keep the 18-month refusal window in mind separately: until it closes, registration in Saudi Arabia is not a given, and brand-launch plans should account for that horizon. Either way, your priority date under the international application is preserved, so the risk here is about money and timing.
— Futura Digital's assessment

If you need help protecting your brand

Futura Digital helps tech and gaming teams protect their brand across the Gulf and build a strategy around a specific project: choosing between a national filing and the Madrid System, assembling the international application, and handling the registration. If you're preparing to enter Saudi Arabia or the wider region, we'll look at your situation and advise what to register first, and by which route.

Prepared by the Futura Digital team. This is an informational overview, not legal advice: the amount of Saudi Arabia's individual fee is not published as of this writing, so your specific brand needs a separate review.