Trademark 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 trademark registration in Venezuela.
Trademark in Venezuela
Any sign can be registered as a trademark in Venezuela if that sign is a word mark, device mark, drawing, word combination, advertising slogan, etc.
As Venezuela’s recent development with the TRIPS agreement transpires, it seems that non-traditional trademarks such as sound, scent will also be registrable in this country.
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Venezuela
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Venezuela include:
- The application for trademark registration in Venezuela;
- Detailed information of the applicant (name, nationality, and address, etc.);
- Detailed information of the representative or attorney (name, nationality, and address, etc.);
- Classification of goods and/or services;
- Trademark sample;
- Priority documents (If any);
- The prescribed fee;
- Other necessary documents.
The procedure of trademark registration in Venezuela
To obtain trademark protection in Venezuela, the applicant needs to file their trademark application to the Venezuela IP Office (the Venezuela Trademark and Patent SAPI)
The trademark application will then be thoroughly examined by the examiners at the IP Office to check if the mark is registrable and published in the Official Gazette.
After the publication, any third parties will have 30 days to file an opposition to the trademark application.
If there are no oppositions the Venezuela IP Office will perform the final examination and decide whether the trademark is granted or denied according to the IP Law of Venezuela.
If the examiners deemed the application meets the requirement, the mark will be registered and the applicant needs to pay the required fees to get their trademark registration certificate.
It should be noted that although the IP Office of Venezuela may deny the registration of the mark, the applicant can still file an appeal to change that decision within a limited time.
Trademark protection period and renewal
After successfully registering a trademark in Venezuela, the trademark will be protected for 15 years from the registration date.
6 months before the expiration date of the trademark, the trademark owner must file for renewal of the mark to extend the protection period.
Formerly, there is no grace period for late renewal. However, while a grace period is not established in the 1955 IP Law, it is admissible through the Paris Convention.
Nonetheless, if a trademark expires, the only way to regain protection would be through a new independent registration.
Use requirement of the trademark
Although a trademark does not have to be used in order to be registered, the trademark owner must use the trademark on a commercial scale within 2 years from registration.
If the trademark owner fails to use the trademark, it may be canceled based on the request by third parties.
You can see a list of Venezuela IP firms here.