Can anybody tell me what “a protest note” and “a letter of protest” are?
According to this, it has to do with protesting new trademarks. I assume that’s what you’re referring to.
A Letter of protest is an informal, and yet still powerful, mechanism by which a third party may flag potential issues with a newly applied for trademark application and make the case for the rejection of the trademark application. Letters of Protest are submitted to, and reviewed by, the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Trademark Examination Policy (Deputy Commissioner) and if deemed sufficiently concerning, will be passed on to the examining attorney.
My question is from an article titled Argentine Approaches to the Falklands/Malvinas: Was the Resort to Violence Foreseeable?
One of the sentences is “Britain’s position as Argentina’s most important trading partner and provider of credit meant that the latter’s claim to the islands was asserted only by means of protest notes, which were loftily ignored by the British Foreign Office.”
I have no idea what “a protest note” is and how it is used diplomatically, so I consult with this forum.
It’s essentially an angry letter sent by one government to another to express the sending government’s disapproval of what the other government has done. They’re not exactly routine - it takes a severe disagreement for a government to send something like this. But they don’t have legal significance in international law.
There are several types of diplomatic notes, the most important being “first-person notes” which are signed by the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, an under secretary, an assistant secretary, or a deputy assistant secretary.
A third-person note could be a note diplomatique but also a note verbale or aide-memoire, etc.
Thank you for your answer.
Thank you for your informative answer.