Trademark registration in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Caribbean island and unincorporated territory of the United States. The economy of Puerto Rico is classified as a high-income economy by the World Bank and as the most competitive economy in Latin America by the World Economic Forum. It is classified by the International Monetary Fund as a developed jurisdiction with an advanced, high-income economy. Furthermore, Puerto Rico ranks highly on the Human Development Index. 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 trademark registration in Puerto Rico.
Trademark in Puerto Rico
A mark registrable as a trademark can be any word, name, symbol, or device, etc.
A trademark in Puerto Rico must be able to identify and distinguish the goods of one party from the goods of others.
Specifically, the trademark in Puerto Rico may be any word, name, symbol, trade dress, medium, logo, design, color, sound, scent, shape, object or any combination thereof that is used or intended to use by a natural or legal person in the commerce.
The type of trademark registrable in Puerto Rico includes Trademarks, Service marks, Certification marks, Collective Trademarks.
The procedure of trademark registration
In order to obtain trademark protection, the applicant needs to file the trademark application to the Puerto Rico Trademark Office – a division within the Department of State.
If there are no errors detected in the trademark application, it will be published and opened for opposition actions in 30 days (1 month). This period may be extended to another 20 days if a party requests the extension before the deadline and if deemed justified by the trademarks office.
The chances of success for an opposition action will vary in each case depending on the circumstances.
Trademark renewal
If there are no oppositions, the trademark will be registered and the applicant will receive the trademark registration certificate.
The successfully registered trademark will have a protection period of 10 years from the filing date.
Every 10 years, 12 months before the deadline, or during the 6 months grace period after the deadline, the applicant may file for renewal of the trademark.
Use requirement of a trademark in Puerto Rico
After registering, the trademark owner must use the mark in commerce and file a Declaration of First Use within 3 years of the filing date.
In addition, besides the renewal requirement every 10 years, the trademark owner must also file a Declaration of Continuous Use within the 5th and 6th year of the registration date.
If the trademark owner does not comply with the requirements, the registration will be canceled and the trademark will be invalidated.
You can see a list of Puerto Rico IP firms here.