Patent registration in Venezuela. Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America. Venezuela is a developing country and ranks 113th on the Human Development Index. It has the world’s largest known oil reserves and has been one of the world’s leading exporters of oil. Venezuela is a charter member of the UN, OAS, UNASUR, ALBA, Mercosur, LAIA and OEI. 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 Venezuela.
Patent in Venezuela
According to Venezuela law, a patent in this country is a grant of a property right given by the Government to an inventor. With a patent, the inventor, or the patentee will have the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling the invention in a country, or importing the invention into a country, along with other rights to protect their best interests.
To be patentable in Venezuela, an invention must satisfy the requirement of new, inventive, and industrially applicable.
In addition, an invention that is patentable can also be an improvement on existing items or methods.
On the other hand, the subjects that are unpatentable in Venezuela are:
- Discoveries, laws of nature, and mathematical methods;
- Aesthetic designs;
- Systems, rules, and methods for the performance of mental labor, games or management, computer programs;
- Presentation of data and abstract ideas.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Venezuela
The necessary documents for patent registration in Venezuela include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s names, addresses, 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 for patent registration in Venezuela
To obtain a patent in Venezuela, the applicant needs to file a patent application to the IP Office of Venezuela.
It should be noted that the patent registration system in Venezuela is not really effective. Therefore, the applicant may have to wait from 5-10 years for the granting decision.
In Venezuela, there are many circumstances in which a patent might be revoked, including:
- By the ruling of a competent court, to annul it for harming a better right of third parties.
- When the exploitation or export of the invention ceases or is stopped for two years from the date of issue, except in the event of an accident or force majeure.
- Due to lack of payment of the annuities.
- For the express resignation of the inventor.
- For being objected by the holder of the corresponding foreign patent requesting its registration within the country within the established period.
Venezuela is not a signatory of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Therefore, registering through the PCT is impossible.
You can see a list of Venezuela IP firms here.