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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN COLOMBIA

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Opposition Term

30 Days

Registration Term

10 Years

First Renewal Term

10 Years

Subsequent Renewal Term

10 Years

  • The primary law governing trademark registration in Colombia is Andean Decision 486/2000, which is a regional law and applies to all Andean Community member states (i.e., Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru).

  • Colombia is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks, and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

  • For getting a trademark registered in Colombia, an application has to be filed with the Colombia Trademark Office (CTO). 

  • Trademark protection is obtained by registration in Colombia.

  • Colombia follows the 11th edition of the Nice Classification. Multi-class trademark applications are acceptable.

  • The third parties can file opposition actions against a trademark application within thirty (30) working days following its publication date in the official gazette.

  • In Colombia, registered trademarks have a validity of ten (10) years from the date of registration, which can be further renewed indefinitely for successive periods of ten (10) years each. 

  • The grace period to renew a trademark after the date of expiry is six (06) months.

  • The term for cancellation of a registered trademark based on non-use is three (03) years from the date of registration.

  • Colombia is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

  • The Andean Decision 486/2000 deals with the mechanism of patent protection in Colombia. 

  • For seeking patent protection in Colombia, an application has to be filed with the Colombian Patent Office (CPO), which administers the entire process of patent grant.

  • In Colombia, inventions applying for a patent are required to comply with the patentability criteria of novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability. Process patent and product patent are the two types of patents that can be protected. 

  • The types of patent applications that can be filed include Non-Convention Application, Convention Application, PCT National Phase Application, and Divisional Application.

  • The time-frame for PCT national phase filing is thirty-one (31) months. 

  • In Colombia, an opposition against a patent application can be raised at the pre-grant stage within two (02) of its publication. At the post-grant stage, a third-party may initiate opposition proceedings within one (01) month (calendar days) and ten (10) working days if it did file an opposition during prosecution. 

  • The patent of invention lasts for twenty (20) years in Colombia. The first annuity will be due in the 1st year and the last annuity will be due in the 20th year. There is no described time-frame for payment of annuities before the due date. However, there is a grace period of six (06) months for the payment of annuities.

  • Colombia is part of the Andean Community, which also has Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru as its other members. The Andean Community has a common Intellectual Property Regime known as DECISION – 486, applicable to all the 04 member-states, to which they all have to adhere.

  • The types of industrial design applications that can be filed in Colombia include the Non-Convention Application and Convention Application.

  • Utility model protection isn't provided under industrial design protection in the nation.

  • Opposition against an industrial design application can be raised within one (01) month from the date of publication of the industrial design. 

  • The maximum term of industrial design protection in Colombia is ten (10) years from the date of application. It is not renewable. 

  • There is neither an official grant fee nor any annual fee for maintaining a registered industrial design in Colombia.

  • Colombia is a signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the Universal Copyright Convention, the WIPO Copyright Treaty, the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, and the TRIPS Agreement.

  • In addition to the international obligations, the Colombian IPR laws are influenced by the Andean Community rubric. The Andean Community Decision 351 on the protection of copyright has been in effect in Colombia since January 1, 1994.

  • The Copyright Law (Law 23 of 1982, as amended through 2010) is the basic legislation governing copyright protection in Colombia.

  • The standard copyright protection term lasts for the lifetime of the author plus eight (80) years following his death. However, the duration of copyright protection varies depending on the type of work.

  • Copyright in a cinematographic works subsists until eighty (80) years following the publication of the work.