The granting of sound marks in Paraguay

By Jenny Avalos

The Trademark Office employs a careful and slow process of granting sound marks in Paraguay.

The problem arises when performing the respective tests of novelty in the Trademark Office, since there is no specialist or examiner with sufficient knowledge in this area. For this purpose, the Trademark Office is usually requesting a technical opinion of the Symphonic Orchestra of the City of Asunción (OSCA). Additionally it is also important to note that the Office does not have a database for searching sounds.

Despite the mentioned drawbacks, to date there are only four Sound Marks registered in the following classes: 9, 41 and 42.

Recently, the Trademark Office has given its approval to record a sound mark in Class 5. The brand to be granted is a sound made by a medical product. In this particular case it was necessary to prove the specialty of the product and the sound effect produced by its use. Through long and arduous investigation procedures of 3 years, this brand is finally going to be granted for registration in the coming months.