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Cuba Updates Its Madrid Procedures: 60-Day Time Limit to Respond to Provisional Refusals, Old Notifications on Division and Merger Withdrawn

An hourglass on a desk beside an open envelope holding a blank sheet, with a small globe in the background, symbolising the time limit for responding to a provisional refusal under the Madrid System running from WIPO's transmission of the notification

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) issued Information Notice No. 40/2026 (MADRID/2026/40) on 23 September: on 20 August the Government of Cuba informed the WIPO Director General that it was withdrawing its earlier notifications under Rule 40(6) and Rule 40(8) of the Regulations under the Madrid Protocol, and notified a new time limit for responding to provisional refusals under Rule 17(7). The first change withdraws the Rule 40(6) notification: in March 2019 Cuba had declared Rule 27ter(2)(a) incompatible with its law and therefore could not accept requests to merge international registrations resulting from division; following the withdrawal Cuba now accepts merger requests under that Rule.

The second change withdraws the Rule 40(8) notification: in January 2025 Cuba had said it would continue to apply Rules 17(2)(vii) and 18(1)(e) as in force on 1 November 2021, so the two-month minimum time limit for replying to provisional refusals did not apply to notifications issued by the Cuban Office; that withdrawal takes effect from 8 August 2026, and the two-month minimum now applies to provisional refusals issued by the Cuban Office on or after that date and to related rectified notifications.

The third element is a notification under Rule 17(7): Cuba's new trademarks and trade names law, Decree-Law 103/2025, entered into force on 8 August 2026 and sets a new time limit for responding to provisional refusals issued by the Cuban Office under Rule 17(1), namely 60 calendar days counted from the date on which WIPO transmits a copy of the notification to the holder, applying to notifications issued on or after 8 August 2026. The notice adds that Madrid System users may contact the Cuban Office for further information on the changes introduced by the new law.

The practical value of this notice is that it can be written straight into an agent's Cuban Madrid deadline table: the time limit for responding to a provisional refusal now has a fixed number and a fixed starting point, and Cuba's exit from the Rule 40(8) transitional arrangement shows that its domestic procedure has been aligned with the Regulations' requirement of at least two months or 60 days to reply; the withdrawal of the Rule 40(6) notification completes the division and merger pair, so an international registration designating Cuba can be merged again after division.

J&C recommends that agents change their Cuban Madrid docketing rule to 60 calendar days from WIPO's transmission and distinguish old and new rules by whether the Cuban Office issued the notification on or after 8 August 2026; recalculate the deadline for any provisional refusal already received after checking its issue date; that holders of international registrations divided in Cuba consider requesting a merger to cut maintenance costs; and that everyone watch for implementing details from the Cuban Office under Decree-Law 103/2025, confirming with the Office or local counsel if needed.

Source: www.wipo.int

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