PROSECUTION GUIDELINES

You have questions – we have the answers!
You will find here all the important information about filing trademarks, designs and patents.

Choose the country from the below options or just contact us for other territories.

Ecuador

GDP: $108,398 BILLION

IMPORTS: $24,932 BILLION

POPULATION: 17,084,357

TOTAL AREA: 283,560 KM2

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: SPANISH

CURRENCY: UNITED STATES DOLLAR ($) (USD)

Local time:

WIPO-administered Treaties:

Contracting Party of The Paris Convention: YES.

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

Applicable Law:

Decision 486 of the Andean Commission Community, local IP Law.

Grace period for filing applications, from disclosure:

1 year.

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

NO.

Formal filing requirements:

Identification of the applicant and the designer (including address and nationality).
Brief description of the design.
Drawings.
Assignment document, if applicable, which needs to be notarised and legalised.
Priority document, if applicable, which must be certified.
Power of Attorney (notarised and legalised).
International class, or the type of the goods the design intends to be applied to.

Locarno classification:

YES.

Deferred publication:

NO.

Registration Proceeding Outline:

Filing.
Formal examination.
Publication.
Opposition.
Decision.

Opposition:

YES, before granting, within 30 business days from publication date.

Average time from filing to grant:

13 months.

Term of Protection and Maintenance:

10 years from priority date if claimed. Designs do not pay annuities.

WIPO-administered Treaties:

Contracting Party of The Paris Convention: YES.
Contracting Party of The Madrid System: NO.

Trade Mark Law in force:

Decision 486 of the Andean Community. The Andean Pact Decision provides for one common trade mark law among the member countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru). It does not provide a common registration procedure, but it provides for certain reciprocal rights to be available upon request of the trade mark owner. For example, an entity that first applied for registration of a trade mark in any Member Country, may lodge an opposition against a similar mark filed in the other Member Countries.

Classification:

Nice classification, 11th edition

Multiclass Applications:

Not possible.

Registrable trade marks:

All distinctive and graphically representable signs, such as 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, trade dress, sound marks and olfactory marks.

Formal filing requirements:

Power of Attorney duly notarised and legalised within 60 days from the official request.
Certified copy of the priority application and its translation into Spanish within 9 months from the priority date.

Examination:

Absolute grounds for refusal: YES.
Relative grounds for refusal: YES.

Opposition period:

30 working days from publication date.

Average time from filing to grant:

Approximately 8-12 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 trade mark has not been used for 3 years in any member state of the Andean Pact, counting from the date of registration. Partial cancellation is possible.

Renewal terms:

6 months prior to renewal date.

Grace period:

6 months.

Link to Trade Mark Office:

https://www.derechosintelectuales.gob.ec/

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:

Decision 486 – Andean Community (Cartagena Agreement Dec 1, 2000) and IP Law, December 9, 2016.

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 and legalized within 60 days from office action.
Assignment document from the inventors duly notarized and legalized within 60 days from office action. Not required under certain circumstances.
Certified copy of priority application within 16 months from priority (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:

NOT available.

Substantive examination must be requested by the applicant:

YES, the examination must be requested in the period of 6 months after publication. Payment of required fees is due within a 6-month term after receipt of official request.

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:

7 years.

Term of protection for patents:

20 years from priority date in the case of Convention applications, international filing date (PCT applications), or national filing date (no priority claim).

Term of protection for utility models:

10 years from priority date in the case of Convention applications, international filing date (PCT applications), or national filing date (no priority claim).

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, compositions, substances, methods or uses; lower threshold for inventive step. Uses are excluded from patentability both for patents and utility models.

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:

http://www.propiedadintelectual.gob.ec/

More questions? Just click below and we reply to your email shortly.

Ask the Team