PATENTS
Timeframe of Patent Registration in Bolivia:
The patent registration time is taking between 24 to 36 months.
PRIORITY:
The priority document is valid for 12 months from the date of submission to your registration institution.
REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION OF INVENTION PATENTS IN BOLIVIA:
1.- Descriptive report of the invention (description, drawings, claims and summary)
The Descriptive Report must be sufficiently complete and clear, it must have the following information:
a) Technology sector
b) Previous technology
c) Brief description of the invention.-
d) Description of the Drawings.-
e) Detailed description of the invention.-
f) Industrial Application.-
g) Claims
2.- Electronic format (CD) containing the drawings, drawings, etc.
3.- Summary of the invention
4.- Priority document in original language and its legalization via apostille;
5.- If applicable Document of transfer of rights (from the inventor to the applicant). For international applications must be apostilled;
6.- Power format to be provided by our study and apostilled.
7.- If applicable, the copy of the access contract, when the products or procedures whose patent is requested have been obtained or developed from genetic resources or their derived products from which any of the member countries of the country of origin;
8.- If applicable, the certificate of deposit of the biological material.
Notes on the requirements to apply for a patent are the following:
- Name and Address of the holder.
- Three copies of the Specification in Spanish (we have a translation service, if necessary).
- Decision 486 of the Andean Community requires for the presentation of any patent procedure the power of the holder and the document of assignment of the inventors, if possible at the time of their application. Otherwise, the aforementioned decision gives us 2 months from the official notification, which can be extended for the same term. If you cannot comply with this presentation within the aforementioned period, the application will be abandoned. The power and assignment must be duly. Apostilled in the country of origin (if it belongs to the Hague Convention) or legalized before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bolivian Consulate (if the country is not a member).
- The priority claim based on Decision 486, must be within 12 months of the date of the claim. The deadline for submitting the document is 16 months from the foreign presentation, and must be certified by the Patent Office of the country of origin.
- According to the aforementioned Decision, the payment of annuities must be made at the time of submission or within the month in which it was presented. Also, subsequent annuity payments must be made each year, on the anniversary date of the application. Two or more annuities can be paid in advance. All annuity payments have a grace period of 6 months before and 6 months after expiration.
- Patent procedures are currently pending, pending the corresponding substantive exams, so that the titles are granted. In this way the annuities of each patent continue to be canceled, despite not having been granted.
TRADEMARKS
Trademark Law in Bolivia:
Legal basis is the Trademark Act of 1918 and the Andean Pact Decision, latest in force Decision 486 of December, 2000.
Bolivia is a member of the Andean Pact. According to the Andean Pact Decision agreement, there are common rules in trademark law in all member states of the Andean Pact (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru).
Trademark protection is obtained by registration.
Classification :
Nice classification, 11th edition
Registration Proceedings of Trademark in Bolivia :
Applications are filed at the Bolivian Intellectual Property Office, which comprises the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Offices.
A separate application has to be filed for each class, there is no multi-class system of application.
Please note that Bolivia is part of the Apostille Convention, so the documents must be apostilled. If there is no Apostille, the documents must be legalized by the Bolivian Consulate.
A notarised power of attorney authenticated by a Bolivian Consulate is necessary. The PoA needs to follow local notarization proceedings (extra fees apply)
The application process includes a formal examination and a search for prior trademarks. The application process also includes a third party opposition period of 30 working days after publication.
The first Office action may take place as soon as 2 weeks after application if the application is not complete and may request the completion of such application, providing a 60 working day deadline for this purpose.
The trademark application is published approximately 2-3 months after the application date.
Timeframe of registration :
The processing time from first filing to registration is approx. 8-10 months.
National Opposition Period :
The opposition period is 30 working days from publication (i.e. aprox. 6 weeks). Oppositions are also possible by owners of trademarks in other member states of the Andean Community, if they simultaneously apply for registration of the protected TM in Bolivia.
Trademark Duration :
Protection begins with the date of registration. A trademark registration is valid for 10 years from the date of registration. The registration is renewable for periods of 10 years.
Likewise, we allow you to inform you that the requirements for the application for trademark registration in Bolivia are the following:
- Name and address of the holder.
- Description of the brand and, if it involves a design, the logo in image format.
- Class and list of products / services to be protected or instruction to use the generic gloss.
- Bolivia as an integral part of the Andean Community applies Decision 486 of the Andean Pact, therefore, for the presentation of any procedure we require a power of attorney, if possible at the time of the request. Otherwise, the aforementioned decision gives us 60 business days from the notification with the lack of the document, after which the request will be rejected and abandoned by the Intellectual Property Office. The respective power must only be apostilled in the country of origin (if it belongs to the Hague Convention) or legalized before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bolivian Consulate (if the country is not a member).
- If you want to claim priority based on the Paris Convention or Decision 486, we require a certified copy of the application, as originally submitted. It must be attached to the procedure within 9 months from the priority date.
- We advise our clients, to avoid possible conflicts with third parties, to carry out the previous background search.