Sri Lanka decided to accede to the Madrid Protocol in 2017. Nine years later it is still not a member, and anyone building a South Asian filing programme has to plan around that rather than around the announcements.
The case for joining has never been seriously contested. Sri Lankan exporters would reach the rest of the world on one application instead of country-by-country filings; brand owners coming the other way would pick Sri Lanka up inside a designation they are already making. What has held it up is not the policy. It is the statute.
Where it actually stands
The Madrid Protocol cannot take effect in Sri Lanka until the Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003 is amended to accommodate it. A treaty instrument deposited without the domestic machinery behind it would give the National Intellectual Property Office no power to examine, publish or refuse an international registration. So the bill is the bottleneck, and the bill has been moving slowly.
The sequence, as far as it has been reported:
| 2017 | Decision to accede taken; target slips to 2018, then to 2020 |
| February 2020 | Cabinet approval for accession |
| 2023 | The President’s budget speech acknowledges the cost and delay exporters face registering abroad; the Trade Ministry undertakes to accelerate |
| June 2024 | The Legal Draftsman sends the draft accession bill to the Attorney General for constitutional review |
| May 2026 | Reported still in the legislative phase, with the Legal Draftsman’s Department finalising the amendments; the National Chamber of Exporters presses NIPO for a timetable |
| Status today | Not a member |
WIPO’s own position is consistent with that. Its March 2026 Madrid System briefing put the system at 116 members covering 132 countries, and listed Sri Lanka in the accession outlook for 2026 to 2028, alongside Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Tonga. That is a projection by the organisation that would administer the accession, not a date.
The more recent reporting is from a single newspaper account, so treat the detail as indicative. The headline is not in doubt: the draft has not become law, and until it does there is nothing for WIPO to record.
What that means for a filing programme
Sri Lanka sits outside whatever Madrid designation covers the rest of your region, which makes it the easy jurisdiction to lose. The neighbouring filings are automated; Sri Lanka is not, and a mark that was meant to be protected across South Asia ends up protected everywhere except there.
In practice:
- File nationally through NIPO. That is the only route in, and it is a Paris Convention filing, so the six-month convention priority window is available from a first filing elsewhere. See our guide to filing a trademark in Sri Lanka.
- Diarise Sri Lanka separately from the Madrid renewals and recordals. A single renewal date across the international registration will not cover it.
- Sri Lankan businesses going outward cannot use a Sri Lankan mark as the basis for an international application either. The route out is a direct national filing in each target country, or a basic application somewhere that is a Madrid member. Our guide to international protection from Sri Lanka sets out how that is built.
When it does happen
Accession is not retrospective. An international registration already in force will not pick Sri Lanka up automatically; it would take a subsequent designation, filed once Sri Lanka’s declaration is in effect. A Sri Lankan national filing made in the meantime is not wasted — it stands on its own, with its own earlier date, which is usually better than the designation would have been.
So there is no advantage in waiting. If you need the mark in Sri Lanka, file it.
The things worth watching when the bill does pass are the refusal period Sri Lanka declares, whether it opts for an individual fee, and how NIPO handles the transition for applications already pending. Pakistan’s 2021 accession is the nearest comparison in the region, and it declared the 18-month period with an individual fee.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sri Lanka a member of the Madrid Protocol? No. It decided to accede in 2017 and the enabling amendment to the Intellectual Property Act has not been passed. WIPO lists it in its accession outlook for 2026 to 2028.
How do I protect a trademark in Sri Lanka now? A national application through the National Intellectual Property Office. Convention priority from an earlier filing abroad is available within six months.
Will my existing international registration cover Sri Lanka once it joins? No. It would need a subsequent designation filed after the accession takes effect.
Should I wait for accession before filing? No. A national filing now gives an earlier date and does not become redundant when Sri Lanka joins.
Why has it taken so long? The Protocol needs the Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003 amended before it can operate, and the bill has been with the drafters and law officers for years.
Can a Sri Lankan business use Madrid to file abroad? Not from a Sri Lankan basic mark. Direct national filings, or a basic application in a member country, are the alternatives.
Useful official resources
- WIPO — Madrid System members
- National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka
- Intellectual Property Act No. 36 of 2003