Prosecution Guidelines in Costa Rica

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You will find here all the important information about filing trademarks, designs and patents.
GDP:
$93.35 billion
Imports:
$19.84 billion
Population:
5.11 million
Total area:
51,100 km2
Oficial languages:
Spanish
Currency:
Costa Rican Colón (CRC)
Local time:
HH:MM:SS
Costa Rica
WIPO-administered Treaties:

Contracting Party of The Paris Convention: YES.

Contracting Party of The Hague Agreement on Industrial Designs: NO.

Applicable Law:

Law 6867 on Patents, Industrial Designs and Utility Models.

Grace period for filing applications, from disclosure:

NO.

Multiple design applications -one application for different embodiments- available:

NO.

Formal filing requirements:
  • Identification of the applicant and inventors.
  • 5 graphic representations.
  • Description.
  • Power of Attorney notarised.
  • Assignment document legalised and authenticated by the Costa Rican Consulate or by means of the Apostille, along with its Spanish translation.
  • Priority document, when applicable.
Locarno classification:

YES.

Deferred publication:

NO. Once all the requirements have been filed, the PTO will issue 2 edicts, one which must be published in the Official Newspaper “La Gaceta” and the other which must be published in another local newspaper.

Registration Proceeding Outline:
  • Filing.
  • Publication.
  • Oppositions.
  • Official Examination.
  • Decision.
Opposition:

YES. Oppositions can be filed within 3 months from the publication. Once the design is granted, only the applicant can cancel the registration.

Average time from filing to grant:

1 year.

Term of Protection and Maintenance:

10 years.

Link:
WIPO-administered Treaties:

Contracting Party of The Paris Convention: YES.

Contracting Party of The Madrid System: NO.

Trademark Law in force:

Trademark Law 7978 of 2000 and its Regulation.

Classification:

Nice classification, 12th edition.

Multiclass Applications:

YES.

Registrable trademarks:

Words, letters, numbers, numerals, figurative elements, monograms, pictures, tags, lines, traces, patterns, combinations and dispositions of colors, sounds, packaging or wrapping of products.

Formal filing requirements:
  • Power of Attorney duly notarized (no legalization required) within 90 days from filing date (PoA has to be dated before filing date OR Power of Attorney duly notarized (no legalization required) with an earlier date when the application is filed under the Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) within 60 days from filing date.
  • Certified copy of priority application and its translation into Spanish within a 90-days term from filing date.
Examination:
  • Absolute grounds for refusal: YES.
  • Relative grounds for refusal: YES.
Opposition period:

2 months from the first publication date.

Average time from filing to grant:

Approximately 6 months, unless any obstacles were raised.

Term of protection:

10 years from the date of registration.

Use requirements:

YES. Cancellation can be requested if the trademark has not been used for 5 years, counting from the registration date. Partial cancellation is possible.

Renewal terms:

1 year prior to renewal date.

Grace period:

6 months.

Link:
WIPO-administered Treaties:
  • Contracting Party of The Paris Convention: YES.
  • Contracting Party of The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): YES. Due term for entry into national phase: 31 months.
Patent Law in force:

Patent Law 6867/1983.

Types of protection available:
  • Patent of Invention.
  • Utility Model.
First filing requirements with the local Patent Office for inventions made by nationals:

NO.

Formal filing requirements:
  • Power of Attorney duly notarized within 90 days from filing.
  • Assignment document from the inventors duly notarized and legalized (which may be substituted by a sworn declaration by the representative) within 60 days from office action.
  • Certified copy of priority application within 90 days from filing (not required for entry into national phase of PCT applications provided that PCT/IB304 form is available).
Filing of the patent application in a foreign language:

Accepted. Late submission of the Spanish translation is possible within 60 days from office action.

Substantive examination must be requested by the applicant:

YES, within 15 working-days after receipt of official request.

Search report must be requested by the applicant:

NO.

Observations by third parties:

YES, within 3 months from the third publication.

Opposition:

YES, within 3 months from the third publication.

Average time from filing to grant:

5-6 years.

Term of protection for patents:

20 years from filing date.

Term of protection for utility models:

10 years from filing date.

Differences between utility model and patent:

UM suitable for utensils, instruments, tools, apparatus, devices, or any parts or improvements thereof, but not to chemical products, methods or uses; lower threshold for inventive step.

Maintenance:

Yearly after grant, only for patents.

Marking of the product with the application/ patent number:

NOT mandatory.

Compulsory licensing:

YES.

Link:

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