---
title: "What Is a Central Attack Under the Madrid Protocol, and What Is the 5-Year Dependency Period?"
description: "A Madrid Protocol central attack is the cascade that cancels your Singapore trade mark designation when the underlying basic mark fails within the five-year dependency period. Under the Madrid Protocol, an international registration (IR) is **dependent on its “basic mark”**…"
url: "https://ami-ip.xyz/docs/what-is-a-central-attack-under-the-madrid-protocol-and-what-is-the-5-year-dependency-period/"
updated: "2026-07-07"
category: International Registration (Madrid)
---

# What Is a Central Attack Under the Madrid Protocol, and What Is the 5-Year Dependency Period?

A Madrid Protocol central attack is the cascade that cancels your Singapore trade mark designation when the underlying basic mark fails within the five-year dependency period.

Under the Madrid Protocol, an international registration (IR) is **dependent on its “basic mark”** — the underlying trade mark application or registration filed in the holder’s Office of Origin — for a period of **five years from the date of the international registration**. This five-year window is called the **dependency period**.

A **“central attack”** occurs when, within that five-year period, the basic mark is refused, withdrawn, cancelled, revoked, invalidated, or restricted (for example, narrowed in scope). Because the IR leans on the basic mark, the International Bureau (WIPO) **cancels the international registration to the same extent in every designated country** — including Singapore.

After the five-year dependency period expires, the international registration becomes **independent** of the basic mark (Madrid Protocol Article 6), and a later problem with the basic mark can no longer cascade into a central attack.

*Source: Madrid Protocol Article 6; IPOS Work Manual (International Applications where Singapore is the Office of Origin), para 11.*

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