PATENTS
The documents and information necessary for patents in Uruguay:
- Power simply signed. Send via email is sufficient.
- Descriptive report, claims and abstract (up to 100 words) in Spanish language.
- Original Priority Certificate, issued by the Office where the patent application originates. If the document is in another language, the Uruguayan Patent Office demands to present it in Spanish.
- Name of the applicant or Company, Address
- Title of the Invention
- Name of the inventors
- Information on Priority (application number, date of your request, country).
Patent Registration Procedure in Uruguay:
*Filing: Patent application is filed in the Patent Office of Uruguay
*Formal Examination: 90 days after filing.
*Publication: This publication opens a legal term of 60 business days and expires for interested third parties to oppose or observe said registration.
*Substantive Examination: in approximately in 120 - 180 days of the end of the publication in the Patent Bulletin, it will be necessary to pay the Examination. Once the substantive Examination has been paid, the process will be analyzed by the local Patent Office and if no observations or objections are filed by the Office, the application will be granted.
*Grant: From 24 to 36 month, approximately.
Duration: A period of 20 years from the date of filing.
TRADEMARKS
Trademark Law in Uruguay
The regulation on Trademarks established is Uruguay’s Trademark Law Nº 17.011 of September 25th, 1998.
Accession to the Hague Apostille Convention since October 2012.
Trademark protection is obtained by registration, under the "first-to-file"-System.
Classification
Nice classification, 11th edition
Requirements for trademark registration in Uruguay:
* Trademark and applicant information.
* If the mark is figurative or mixed attach logo in .JPG or .PDF format
* Class: no detail of products or services is required and the brand can be requested in full, applying the 10th Edition of NIZA International Classifier.
* Power of attorney (POA) document, simply signed and can be advanced by email.
* There is a period of late submission of power of 30 days from the date of the request, in case of not complying with this requirement the application will be lost.
The trademark registration process in Uruguay:
a. Filing: Application for registration with the National Directorate of Industrial Property (DNPI). The National Intellectual Property Department grants a process number (Minutes) and grants priority date, normally we send the application protocol within a maximum period of 1 week.
b. Publication: Within 90 to 120 days, the DNPI will publish the application in the Industrial Property Bulletin for one time only and thus open, from the next day, a third-party opposition period.
c. Opposition: Period of 30 days from the publication, for the presentation by Third Parties of Oppositions.
d. Formal and Substantive Examination:
The case is analyzed by the Trademark Office (DNPI). We are informed of the oppositions of deduced third parties or of the DNPI itself.
1. If there are no oppositions of third parties or ex officio, the request is granted and we can request the Certificate of Registration.
2. If there are oppositions, the trademark application is studied by the DNPI, after seeing the parties, which will opportunely grant or deny the registration of the same and if the trademark is not granted, it is possible to present administrative revocation and hierarchical resources.
f. After resolving them, if the previous resolution is maintained, it is possible to file a claim for annulment before the Administrative Dispute Court.
g. Deadline for granting registration:
* If the mark was not the object of opposition: approximately 18 - 28 months.
* If the mark was the object of opposition: approximately 38-40 months.
Grant: Once granted, you must proceed to request the withdrawal of the title corresponding to the brand and pay the corresponding fee.
Remarks of the Trademark Registration Process in Uruguay
The application is filed with the Trademark Office.
Multiple-class applications are possible.
The application process includes a formal examination, an examination of distinctiveness and a search for prior marks. Signs not deemed distinctive in the examination can be registered if distinctiveness has been acquired by use.
The timeframe from the reply to oppositions to a decision is approximately 9 additional months.
Prior to registration, the trademark application is published in the Official Gazette (approx. 2 months after the application date).
Timeframe:
The normal processing period, for the granting of the registration, without the marks suffered by third party oppositions or objections of the DNPI is estimated at approximately from 18 to 28 months.
Trademark Duration
A trademark registration is valid for 10 years from the date of registration. The registration is renewable for periods of 10 years.