Fees and rules as of 16 October 2026. General information, not advice on a specific case.
An international trade mark registration under the Madrid System is not a stand-alone filing. It always rests on a “basic” mark: an application or registration at a national or regional office. The choice of that office decides how much you pay at the start, who can attack the basis of your protection, and whether you are eligible at all.
For businesses with a real connection to Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Patent Office (BPO) is a practical starting point. Its official fee for sending your international application to WIPO is a fraction of the corresponding EUIPO fee.
Who can use this route
The basic mark must be filed with the office of a country to which you have a genuine tie. Under Article 2(1) of the Madrid Protocol, you can use the Bulgarian office as your “office of origin” only if you are a Bulgarian national, or are domiciled, or have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Trade Marks and Geographical Indications Act (Art. 108(1)) puts it in domestic terms: a person with a permanent address or genuine commercial activity in Bulgaria who holds a mark applied for or registered in Bulgaria.
In practice, the route is open to:
- companies with a Bulgarian subsidiary, branch or real operations in Bulgaria;
- individuals who live in Bulgaria;
- Bulgarian founders with foreign investors or customers.
It is not open to a foreign company that has no presence in Bulgaria. If that is your situation, your basic mark has to come from the country where you do have a tie, or from the EU if you are connected to the EU. A nominal address is not a safe basis. Check eligibility before you file, because a registration that rests on a mark filed by an ineligible applicant is a weak foundation.
How the route works
- File a Bulgarian application. The BPO examines it and, if there are no grounds for refusal, registers it. You pay the national filing and examination fee.
- File the international application through the BPO. You can do this on the basis of a pending application or a registration. The BPO checks that the form matches the Bulgarian mark and sends it on to the International Bureau of WIPO (TMGIA Art. 108(2)).
- Pay WIPO directly. WIPO’s own fees (the basic fee and the fees for the countries you designate) are paid to WIPO, not to the BPO. Use WIPO’s fee calculator for the exact amount.
- Each designated country examines the mark under its own law. A refusal in one country does not affect the others. You can designate the European Union like any other Madrid member.
Two details that matter:
- Dates. If WIPO receives the international application within two months of the date the BPO received it, the international registration carries the BPO’s receipt date (Protocol Art. 3(4)). Filing the Bulgarian application first and the international one within six months also lets you claim the Bulgarian filing as a Paris Convention priority.
- Bulgaria itself. You cannot designate your own office of origin. Protection in Bulgaria comes from the Bulgarian mark itself (Protocol Art. 3bis).
The official fees at the BPO
The BPO’s tariff has been in euro since 1 January 2026. The fees relevant to this route are:
| Step | Fee (EUR) |
|---|---|
| Bulgarian application, filing and examination, up to three classes (trade or service mark) | 265.87 |
| Each additional class | 15.34 |
| Request for international registration, sent through the BPO, up to three classes | 76.69 |
| Each additional class | 25.56 |
| Request for territorial extension, sent through the BPO | 35.79 |
Source: Tariff of Fees Collected by the Bulgarian Patent Office, Art. 3.
How this compares with going through EUIPO
If your basic mark is an EU trade mark, EUIPO acts as the office of origin and charges a EUR 300 handling fee for the international application. All other fees go to WIPO (EUIPO, International application page). Through the BPO, the corresponding fee is EUR 76.69 for up to three classes, roughly a quarter of the EUIPO amount.
Read this comparison with care. It covers only the fee for forwarding the application. The cost of the basic mark is a separate item on each side, and WIPO’s fees are the same whichever office you use. Compare the full path from basic application to the countries you want, not the handling fee alone. The Bulgarian route also protects the basic mark only in Bulgaria, so every other country in your strategy comes from the international registration.
The risk you take with a single basic mark
For the first five years, the international registration depends on the basic mark. If, within five years of the international registration, the Bulgarian application or registration is withdrawn, lapses, is refused, or is cancelled or invalidated in whole or in part, the international registration falls with it to the same extent. The same applies if an opposition, appeal or cancellation action that started within the five years later ends in a final decision against the basic mark (Protocol Art. 6(2)–(3)). The BPO informs WIPO of relevant refusals and cancellation requests (TMGIA Art. 108в).
This cuts both ways. A basic mark that is attacked in only one country has a smaller attack surface than one that is exposed across a whole region, but the consequence of losing it is the same: every designation falls. After five years the international registration becomes independent of the basic mark.
For this reason, a clearance search in Bulgaria, and in the countries you plan to designate, is worth doing before you file.
When this route makes sense
It is worth considering if:
- you meet the eligibility condition in Bulgaria;
- your priority is to reach several countries outside the EU at a controlled cost;
- you do not need an EU-wide trade mark at the start.
It is a poor fit if you have no tie to Bulgaria, if you need the broader EU-wide protection from day one, or if you cannot accept the dependency risk for the first five years.
Our service and fees
We prepare and file the Bulgarian application and the international application, handle the BPO and WIPO correspondence, and advise on the choice of designations and on the refusals that follow.
Our fee starts at EUR 1,000, excluding VAT and the official BPO and WIPO fees. It covers everything on the Bulgarian application, including the search in Bulgaria. The final quote for the international registration depends on:
- the type of mark and the number of classes;
- how much searching is needed in each country you designate;
- the number of designated countries;
- work after filing, such as responding to a refusal. In a designated country this is done through a local representative, whose fees are separate.
To get a quote, send us the mark, the goods or services, the countries you have in mind, and your connection to Bulgaria (address or business activity). We confirm the fee in writing before we start. Contact: info@reguligence.com.
Sources: Madrid Protocol, Arts. 2, 3, 3bis, 6; Bulgarian Trade Marks and Geographical Indications Act, Arts. 108–108в; Tariff of Fees Collected by the Bulgarian Patent Office (as in force in October 2026); EUIPO, International application page (checked 16 October 2026); Paris Convention, Art. 4; WIPO Madrid fee calculator.
