Time reduction in trademark procedures

By Francisco Espinosa Reboa

In the framework of the Intellectual Property Week 2017, the National Institute for Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) presented the scope and benefits of the modifications arising from Legislative Decree 1309, which purpose is to allow citizens to register trademark and patents in a simpler and faster way.

Among other things, the decree enables less complex appeals as Indecopi will apply filters when there is no opposition from third parties. Therefore, those appeals can now be resolved with an average of 30 business days and not 180 business days as before. It also states that all procedures notifications must be carried out electronically, representing also a big time reduction for those procedures: from 5 to 15 business days (depending on the region of the country) to just one business day.

For last, the new decree also eliminates the requirement to present at Indecopi the powers of attorney that citizens or companies already have presented in other public entities, as these documents can be obtained directly by the Institution.