PROSECUTION GUIDELINES

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

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Nicaragua

GDP:$13,118 BILLION

IMPORTS: $6,690 BILLION

POPULATION: 6,465,513

TOTAL AREA: 130,375 KM2

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: SPANISH

CURRENCY: CÓRDOBA (C$) (NIO)

Local time:
WIPO-administered Treaties:
  • Contracting Party of The Paris Convention: YES.
  • Contracting Party of The Hague Agreement on Industrial Designs: NO.
Applicable Law:

Law 354, on Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Designs. TRIPS.

Grace period for filing applications, from disclosure:

1 year.

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

YES, provided that all embodiments refer to products included in the same Locarno class.

Formal filing requirements:
  • 3 graphic or photographic reproductions of the design (if two-dimensional, the reproduction may be replaced by a sample of the product incorporating the design).
  • Designation of the products the design will be applied to, with the class and subclass to which they belong.
  • Assignment document.
  • Power of Attorney.
Locarno classification:

YES.

Deferred publication:

YES, by request of the applicant, any time prior to the publication order. The Office will defer publication for the time specified in the request, which may not exceed 12 months from the filing date of the application.

Registration Proceeding Outline:
  • Filing.
  • Formal examination.
  • Publication.
  • Opposition.
  • Substantive examination.
  • Decision.
  • Certificate of registration.
Opposition:

NO. Third parties –or even the applicant- may, at any time before a final decision is issued, file comments and documents that may be relevant to the case. The Office then notifies the applicant thereof and issues a decision within a 2-months term from the date on which the comments and documents were notified to the applicant -except if the applicant is filing the comments and documents or requests that proceedings are resumed, before that period expires-. The filing of comments does entail the stay of proceedings. Such comments do not give rise to litigation either, and the one who files them does not become party in the procedure.

Average time from filing to grant:

8-12 months.

Term of Protection and Maintenance:

5 years, plus 2 renewal terms of 5 years each.

WIPO-administered Treaties:
  • Contracting Party of The Paris Convention: YES.
  • Contracting Party of The Madrid System: NO.
Trade Mark Law in force:

Law 380 of Trade Marks and other Distinctive Signs of 2000, amended by Law No. 1024 on 3 April 2020.

Classification:

Nice classification, 10th edition.

Multiclass Applications:

YES.

Registrable trade marks:

Words or a group of words, advertising slogans and phrases, letters, numbers, monograms, shapes, portraits, labels, coats of arms, designs, cartoons, borders, lines and stripes, and combinations and arrangements of colours, sounds or other perceptible signs such as smells.

Formal filing requirements:
  • Power of Attorney duly notarized and legalized within 2 months from the application date.
  • Certified copy of priority application and its translation into Spanish within 3 months from the application date.
Examination:
  • Absolute grounds for refusal: YES.
  • Relative grounds for refusal: YES.
Opposition period:

30 Working days from publication, with the option to extend it once, for 15 additional working days. The extension must be requested before the original 30 day period expires.

Average time from filing to grant:

Approximately 10 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, counting from the registration date. Partial cancellation is possible.

Renewal terms:

1 year 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:

Patent Law 354/2000 (modified by Law 574 and Law 634).

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.
  • Information on how the applicant acquired the right to the invention, that is, by employment relationship or contract or assignment (NO supporting documents required). Within 2 months from notification.
  • 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 office action (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, within6 months from publication.

Search report must be requested by the applicant:

NO.

Observations by third parties:

YES, at any time prior to grant.

Opposition:

NO.

Average time from filing to grant:

3-4 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; also during prosecution of the application.

Marking of the product with the application/ patent number:

NOT mandatory.

Compulsory licensing:

YES.

Link to Patent Office: