PROSECUTION GUIDELINES

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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.

Puerto Rico

GDP: $101,131 BILLION

IMPORTS: $46,520 BILLION

POPULATION: 3,195,153

TOTAL AREA: 9,104 KM2

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: SPANISH, ENGLISH

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:

Law No. 17,164.

Grace period for filing applications, from disclosure:

6 months.

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

YES.

Formal filing requirements:
  • Power of Attorney.
  • Drawings displaying all views of the design.
  • Description not required.
  • Priority document when applicable, translated by local sworn translator.
Locarno classification:

YES.

Deferred publication:

YES. 12 months.

Registration Proceeding Outline:
  • Filing.
  • Publication request within a 12 months term since the priority date, upon which the application is effectively published within 1-2 months.
  • Payment of examination fees.
  • Decision.
Opposition:

YES. Oppositions can be filed within 60 days from the publication. Nullity actions are also possible, within 5 years from granting or within 3 years from exploitation, whichever term expires first.

Average time from filing to grant:

12-18 months.

Term of Protection and Maintenance:

10 years, extendable for 5 additional years (payment of the renewal fee has to be made in the tenth year, requesting the extension for the additional 5 years). Annuities have to be attended in order to preserve the rights.

WIPO-administered Treaties:
  • Contracting Party of The Paris Convention: NO.
  • Contracting Party of The Madrid System: NO*.

*although can be used through the United States Federal System

Trade Mark Law in force:

Puerto Rico Trademark Act, in force since 14 February 1992, last amended by Act 169 on 16 December 2009 and further amended by Act 124-2011, which coexists with the Lanham Act.

Although part of the USA with special status, Puerto Rico has its own trade mark law independent of the USA. It is therefore no longer possible to obtain a national trade mark on the basis of an US registration.

Through the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act the statutory laws of the United States have apply in Puerto Rico, unless they are locally inapplicable. Rights acquired under the Lanham Act are therefore valid and enforceable in Puerto Rico.

Classification:

Nice classification, 10th edition.

Multiclass Applications:

Not possible.

Registrable trade marks:

Signs, such as words, names, acronyms, letters, numbers, devices, emblems, combinations or shades of colours, three-dimensional forms, sound marks, smell marks and any combination of the mentioned signs.

Formal filing requirements:
  • Power of Attorney: Not necessary.
  • Priority Claims are not possible.
  • Indication of date of first use or intention of use.
Examination:
  • Absolute grounds for refusal: YES.
  • Relative grounds for refusal: YES.
Opposition period:

30 days from publication date.

Average time from filing to grant:

Approximately 2 years, 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 5 years, counting from the registration date. Partial cancellation is not 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): NO.
Patent Law in force:

Patent Law 17.164/2000.

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 merely signed (no legalization required) within 30 days from filing.
  • Assignment document from the inventors merely signed (no legalization required) within a 180 working-day term from filing. Not required under certain circumstances.
  • Certified copy of priority application within 180 days from filing. The translation of the priority application must be signed by a sworn registered local translator.
Filing of the patent application in a foreign language:

NO. Late submission of the Spanish translation is acceptable within a 30-day term provided that at least, Spanish translation of the claims and abstract and the first pages of the specification are submitted upon filing the application.

Substantive examination must be requested by the applicant:

YES, within 120 days from publication.

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:

8 years.

Term of protection for patents:

20 years from filing date.

Term of protection for utility models:

10 years from filing date and could be renewed for 5 more years the same for Industrial Designs.

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.

Marking of the product with the application/ patent number:

NOT mandatory.

Compulsory licensing:

YES.

Link to Patent Office: