PROSECUTION GUIDELINES

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You will find here all the important information about filing trademarks, designs and patents.

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Cuba

GDP: $96,851 BILLION

IMPORTS: $11,622 BILLION

POPULATION: 11,338,138

TOTAL AREA: 109,884 KM2

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: SPANISH

CURRENCY: CUBAN CONVERTIBLE PESO (CUC$) (CUC)

Local time:
WIPO-administered Treaties:

Contracting Party of The Paris Convention: YES.

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

Applicable Law:

Decree Law 290 and Decree 342 on Inventions and Designs.

Grace period for filing applications, from disclosure:

NO.

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

YES.

Formal filing requirements:
  • Power of Attorney.
  • Drawings.
  • Brief description of each of the drawings.
  • Assignment document.
Locarno classification:

YES.

Deferred publication:

YES, 12 months.

Registration Proceeding Outline:
  • Filing.
  • Formal examination.
  • Publication.
  • Oppositions.
  • Substantive examination.
  • Decision.
  • Appeal.
  • Definitive decision.
  • Registration Certificate.
  • Publication of granting.
Opposition:

YES, before granting, within a 60 days term from the publication. Cancellation action after granting also possible.

Average time from filing to grant:

1-2 years approximately.

Term of Protection and Maintenance:

10 years, with annuity payment from 3rd year (1st and 2nd included in filing fees).

WIPO-administered Treaties:
  • Contracting Party of The Paris Convention: YES.
  • Contracting Party of The Madrid System: YES.
Trade Mark Law in force:

Decree Law 203/2000 of 1999.

Classification:

Nice classification, 11th edition.

Multiclass Applications:

YES.

Registrable trade marks:

Signs, words, names, acronyms, letters, numbers, devices, emblems, holograms, colours, combinations or shades of colours, three-dimensional forms, the three-dimensional form of a good or its packaging.

Formal filing requirements:
  • Power of Attorney merely signed (no legalisation and no notarisation required), within 60 days from the filing date.
  • Certified copy of the priority application and its translation into Spanish, within 3 months from the filing date.
Examination:
  • Absolute grounds for refusal: YES.
  • Relative grounds for refusal: YES.
Opposition period:

60 days from the publication date.

Average time from filing to grant:

Approximately 18 months, unless any obstacles were raised. Currently, there is a delay of more than 2 years, due to a significant backlog at the TM Office.

Term of protection:

10 years from the date of application.

Use requirements:

YES. Cancellation can be requested if the trade mark has not been used for 3 years, counting from the registration date. Partial cancellation is possible.

Renewal terms:

6 months prior to renewal date.

 

Grace period:

6 months.

Link to Trade Mark Office:
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: 30 months.
Patent Law in force:

Legal Decree 290 of April 1, 2012 and Decree 342 of August 10, 2018.

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

YES.

Formal filing requirements:
  • Power of Attorney merely signed (no legalization required) within 60 days from office action.
  • Assignment document from the inventors merely signed (no legalization required) within 60 days from office action. Not required under certain circumstances.
  • 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 for the entry into national phase of PCT applications only. In such case late submission of the Spanish translation is possible within 60 days from office action.

Substantive examination must be requested by the applicant:

NO.

Search report must be requested by the applicant:

NO.

Observations by third parties:

YES, within 60 working days from publication.

Opposition:

YES, within 60 working days from publication.

Average time from filing to grant:

4 years.

Term of protection for patents:

20 years from filing date.

Term of protection for utility models:

1o 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 also during prosecution of the application.

Marking of the product with the application/ patent number:

NOT mandatory.

Compulsory licensing:

YES.

Link to Patent Office: