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A “central attack” occurs when, within that five-year period, the basic mark is refused, withdrawn, cancelled, revoked, invalidated, or restricted (for example, narrowed in scope).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.