Patent registration in Honduras. Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The World Bank categorizes Honduras as a low-middle-income nation. Nonetheless, economic growth in the last few years in Honduras has averaged 7% a year, one of the highest rates in Latin America and this shows great prospects for the future of Honduras as a potential business partner. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Honduras.
Patent in Honduras
A patent in Honduras is a legal document that gives the patentee exclusive rights over the invention for a set period of time within a limited area.
An invention in Honduras qualifies for a patent if it is new, involves an inventive step, and is industrially applicable.
Unpatentable subjects in Honduras
According to the law, the following subjects are not considered to be patentable:
- theoretical or scientific principles;
- discoveries of something that already existed in nature, even if it was previously unknown to man;
- biological material existing in nature;
- schemes, plans, rules, and methods to make mental acts, games, or business plans;
- isolated consideration of computer programs;
- forms of presentation of information;
- aesthetic creations, artistic or literary works;
- surgical, therapeutic or diagnostic methods for treatment of the human or animal body;
- the juxtaposition of features of already known inventions or mixtures of known products, their variation of form, dimensions, or materials.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Honduras
The necessary documents for patent registration in Honduras include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s and inventor’s names, addresses, citizenships, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
The procedure of patent registration in Honduras
To obtain a patent in Honduras, the applicant needs to file their patent application to the IP Office of Honduras.
If there are no issues with formality, the patent application will be published publicly in the Official Gazette provided that all the fees are paid in full.
It should be that after the application is published, any interested person may submit an opposition against the application, by way of written arguments. This is also known as an observation.
If there are no observations, the patent application will proceed to the substantive examination step.
If there are no issues with the above steps, the patent will be granted to the applicant, normally within 4 to 5 years.
Patents have 20 non-extendable years of protection in Honduras, counted from the date of filing.
Annual fees or annuities must be paid to keep a patent or a pending patent application in force.
Other notes
Patents in Honduras are generally granted on a first-to-file basis.
The local laws must be followed when registering a patent in Honduras. The U.S. trademark and patent registrations will not automatically mean the protection of a patent in Honduras.
Honduras does not have procedures, such as the Patent Prosecution Highway, to expedite the process of patent registration.
You can see a list of Honduras IP firms here.